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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/withflyrodcameraOOsamu 



IViTH Fly -Rod and Camera 




> 



With Fly-Rod and Camera 



BY 



EDWARD A. SAMUELS 



PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS FISH AND GAME PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, 
AUTHOR OF "the ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND AND 
ADJACENT STATES AND PROVINCES," "AMONG THE BIRDS," ASSO- 
CIATE EDITOR OF "the LIVING WORLD," ETC., ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PLATES, 
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR. 



V 



WASHING'^ 



NEW YORK 

FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 

1890 



Copyright, 1890. 
Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 






Respectfully Dedicated 
to the 

Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association. 



PREFACE. 



IN THE preparation of this book I have made no ef- 
fort to write a technical work, but have aimed rather 
to produce a volume which would, by the descriptions 
ofiven of the haunts and habits of a few of our game 
fish, and of the incidents and methods of their capture, 
not only entertain and please my brother anglers, but 
instil in the minds of those who have not )et acquired 
"the (rentle art," a desire to taste the pure and healthful 
pleasures which it affords. 

I know of no other pastime or field sport, a love 
of which once acquired, that gives such lasting and per- 
fect enjoyment as fly-fishing, and I earnestly hope that 
a perusal of these pages will do something toward guid- 
ing the attention of our young men and women in its 
direction. 

In connection with the pleasure to be derived from 
the fly-rod, the angler now has an accessory in his out- 
ings which will add vastly to his enjoyment, both in the 
present and years to come. I refer to the camera. 



viii Preface. 

For man)' years I have worked with the wet plate 
method, but that, of course, is unwieldy, cumbrous, and 
requires such an outfit that for distant field work it is 
well nigh impracticable. 

But within a few years the dry plate process has 
been perfected to such a marvelous degree that one can 
now take his camera and dry plates, or sensitized paper, 
or celluloid rolls, and can save for future enjoyment a 
picture of every delightful thing that meets his vision. 
I have for several years carried my camera with me over 
wild and rugged mountains, through many miles of almost 
unbroken wilderness, down the rapids of rushing streams 
and across wide stretches of lakes in my frail canoe, and 
have a treasury of pictures that will hereafter prove of 
the greatest delight and comfort to me. And it is my 
great regret that I did not possess such a photographic 
outfit thirty years ago as I at present have. If I could 
have saved photographs of all the wonderful scenes and 
incidents through which I have passed, and many of 
which are now lost even to the vision of memory, the 
collection would have been priceless. The angler and 
tourist, young and old, if he takes my most earnest 
advice, will procure a photographic outfit, and preserve 
for his comfort in old age the pictured record of his 
delightful outings by "flood and field." 



Preface. ix 

As an example of what may be done, I offer the 
illustrations in this volume, which have been reproduced 
from some of the photographs in my collection, the nega- 
tives of most of which I made myself. Most of the re- 
productions are satisfactory in the highest degree ; others 
are not quite so perfect. Of course the instantaneous 
exposures, marked (Inst.) on the plates, which were ne- 
cessarily made when moving objects were photographed, 
do not give that completeness of detail that timed on^s 
do, but the average given is, I think, a good one. 

While most of the illustrations are from photographs 
made by myself, my grateful acknowledgments are due 
to Dr. S. J. Mixter of Boston, Robert L. P. Masson of 
Providence, R. I.; Dr. C. A. Kingsbury of Philadelphia, 
Pa.; Dr. M. A. Morris of Charlestown, Mass., and others, 
for the gift or loan of many of the most attractive of 
the photographs that I have reproduced. 

The descriptions of fish and their habits, that I have 
given, have been purposely veiled by dialogue and nar- 
rative, in order that untechnical readers may not be 
wearied by a perusal of matter which ordinarily has for 
them but little attraction. 

Brother anglers, when you read my book, I hope 
you will bear with me if my accounts of the pleasures 
we enjoy lack the poetry and magic eloquence which 



X Preface. 

others could have given them ; remember that the book 
is not a pretentious one, but is rather an unassuming 
and humble companion to others that have better shown 
in sweeter and more symmetrical lines the delights and 
charms of the angler's life, which, " Exempt from public 
haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
sermons in stones, and good in everything," 

Edward A. Samuels. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Chapter I., - - - - - - 21 

Our First Night ux the River. • How to See a Salmon ix a 
Deep Pool. • Spearing and Gill-Netting Discussed and Con- 
demned. - Cape Breton Salmon Spearing. • Hard Luck. 
The Boy Told a Straight Story. • Destruction Caused by 
Seining. - A Startling Splash in the Pool. • Fly-Fishing 
t^y Moonlight for Trout and Salmon. • The Delights ok 
Angling. • The Difference Between the True Sportsman axd 
THE Fish Killer. • The Miramichi and ns Tributaries. 
Some Fishery Statistics. • Changes ix the I.ifk of the Sal- 
Mox. • Did you ever See a Female Grilse? ■ How to Drag 
A Salmox Fly. • Favorite Flies. - • Habits of the Salmon. 
Kelts are Unfit for Food. 

Chapter II., - - - - - - 81 

An Early Cast. • Silver Dociors. • Cover the Water Thor- 
oughly. ■ A Bu; Sea Trout. • Lively Times. • How to 
Cook a Trout. • An Admir.able Cast. • Another Salmon 
Hooked and Lo.st. • "Fly P'ison" in Demand. • Black Flies 

ON THE MAGALLOWAV. • A ROUGH EXPERIENCE. - PlAYING A 

' Drift Tree Top. • Two Fish Hooked and Both Saved. • A 
Great Stru(;gle. ■ The Cup that Cheers. ■ We Ascend to 
the Fifth Pool. ■ Queer Characters who Go a-Fishing. 
A Man who Wanted the Earth. • Jealousy. ■ Lake and 
Spotted or Brook Trout Compared. • Killing a Togue ox the 
Fly. - Schoodic Fishing in Old Times. • Picturf:sque Sea 
Coast of Maine. • Land-Locked Salmon. ■ Ducks in Abund- 
ance. • A Lively Fish. • Hooking a Pair of Land-Locks. 
Trolling for Salmon. • Pickerel Fishing. • How to Make 
a Bark Camp. • "Fish Killers." ■ Indian Traditions. • A 
Plenty of Land-Locks Left. 



xii Contents. 

Page 

Chapter III., - - - _ _ _ j^y 

A Bright Morning. • Notions about Flies. • A Nuisance of Sea 
Trout. • Another Salmon Hooked. • Splendid Play. • Dismay. 
"Confound the Drift Wood!" • Philosophers. • Killing the 
Fish not all there is of Fishing. • Kingfishers and Shel- 
drakes as Pests on a Salmon or Trout River. • It's a Wonder 
we have any Salmon Left. • A Salmon that has Long been 
in the River is Shy of the Fly. • The Phantom Minnow Used 
in Trolling for Salmon. - A Strange Lot of Fish. • Aggra- 
vating Salmon. • Exciting Times. • Worms as Bait for 
Salmon. • A Strong Fish, and a Contest Long to be Remem- 
bered. ■ A Bad Mess. • Retribution. • Rising to the Fly 
in Still Water. • An Exciting Struggle. • Victory. • Fish 
in Abundance. • Our Permanent Camp. • Such Luck as an 
Amateur Sometimes Has. • Salmon that Played Me. • Fisher- 
man's Luck. 

Chapter IV., ----_. 250 

A Choice of Routes to Cape Breton. • Port Mulgrave and the 
Gut of Canso. • St. Peter's Canal. • The Beautiful Bras 
D'Or. • All About Sydney and Coal. ■ The Success of the 
Sydney Fish Hatchery. • Statistics of Cape Breton Salmon 
Breeding. • Poor Old Louisbourg. • Baddeck. • A Delight- 
ful Trip to the Margaree. • Educated Trout. • Success 
in Using a " Gray Mouse." • Northeast Margaree. • Abund- 
ance OF Sea Trout. - The Fishing Station of Chetticamp. 
Work of the Fish Commissioners at Northeast Margaree. 
Taking and Handling Salmon Eggs. • Picturesque Scenery 
on the Margaree. • Lake Ainslee. • A Celebrated Pool. 
Outwitting Educated Fish. ■ Whykokomagh. - A Most En- 
joyable Sail. • Abundance and Variety of Bird Life on Cape 
Breton. 

Chapter V., - - - - - - 300 

A Heavy Rain. • Sounds of the Night. ■ Fly-Fishing SoxMetimes 
Good in a Storm. • A Great Catch. • Trout, Ducks and 
Grebes Exterminated by Pickerel. • Ozone. ■ Another Sal- 
mon Hooked. ■ Hopes and Fears. ■ Disappointment. • Hiram 
as a Fly-Caster. - More About Favorite Flies. • A Hand- 
some Trio. • Hooked and Saved. • Frere Gets AnotherFish. 
How the Country Boy Angles for a Salmon. • A Squirrel 
Skin Fly. • A Great Catch. • The Jacquet River in New 



Contents, xiii 

Page 

Chapter V. {Continued) ----- 300 

Brunswick. • Barclay's Hotel and the Beach on the Baie des 
Chaleurs. • Good Sport IN Prospect. • A Summons from Hiram. 
Excitement. • A Long Struggle. ■ Congratulations. • A 
Pretty String of Sea Trout. • Frere also has Good Success. 
Sending out Fish to Friends, • Trout Fishing at the Range- 
leys. • Great Sport with Light Tackle. • Hatching Salmon 
Artificially a Great Success. • The Operations at Different 
Hatcheries. • Weir Owners Get the Cream. • Our Anglers 
the First to Urge the Artificial Stocking of Rivers and Lakes. 
Statistics of Salmon Fisheries. • Poachers Growing More 
Reckless. • Surface Fishing Cannot Exterminate the Fish. 
Habits of the Salmon. ■ Conjectures Concerning the Identity 
of the Sea Trout. • All About Lakes Edward and St. John. 
The Home of the Winninish. • Great Rivers in the North. 
Is the Winninish a Land-Locked Salmon? • Dimensions and 
Weight of Schoodtc_ Salmon. 

Chapter VI., - - - - - - 406 

The Last Day in Camp. • Spawning Habits of the Salmon. 
Salmon Runs. • The Sea Trout, its Gameness, its Identity. 
The Winninish. • Lake Edward. • Lake St. John and its 
Fishing. • The Peribonca and the Ashuapmouchouan Rivers. 
The Land-Locked Salmon. 

Chapter VII., ----- - 43^ 

The Morning of Our Last Day on the River. • A Rise in the 
River. • Long Casts. • Excellence of the Split-Bamboo Rod. 
About Fly-Casting Tournaments. • Excitement in Running 
Rapids. • A Rise. • An Exciting Struggle. • A Stubborn 
Salmon. • Landed in a Novel Manner. ■ Great Sport. 
Charms Attending the Angler's Life. • Beautiful Thoughts 
on Angling by Different Authors. • Retrospective Angling. 
At the Third Pool Again. • A Narrow Escape from an Acci- 
dent. ■ A Souvenir. • Frere Rises a Good Fish. • A Grand 
Battle. • Triumph. • Give the Guides a Chance. • Hiram 
Rises a Salmon and Lands it after a Short Struggle. • No- 
tional People are Guides. • William has his Inning Also. 
Valedictory. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

ViKW oi- rmc Lrm.K Sac.uknav Rivkr, P. (,)., - - - Frontispiece. '^ 

Tiuc Tmuii pool., - - - - - - - - 23 -^ 



27 



^ 



31 -^ 



Salmon, ---------- 

TiMK FOR TiiK Landim; N k t (il'St.), - - - - - 

Rkstino a Pool, -------- 35 

The OriDKs Akk Rkadv, iiik Sh<)Rts>l\n, Where is He? - . 39 ' 
In- Caml, --------- 45 ^ 

Mk-Mac Caml, - - - - - - - - - 49 i^ 

There's Xothinc. Like It, - ----- - 55 

Lady Macdonalli Casting the Fly ilnsL), -' - - - - 57 

An Embryo Angler {Ins/.), - - - - - - - 61 ^. 

Isn't She a Beauty ! - - - - - - - - 65 / 

A Dark-Coloreh Sea TRnri, - - - - - ^7 '' 

Beauties, - 

Mic-Mac Indians Building a Birch Caxoe (Inst.), 

Portaging a Canoe {Inst.), - - - - - - - 11 ' 

Difference Between a Fresh-Run Salmon and a "Slink" ijr "Kelt," 79 ' 

As Nice a Sea Trout as You Ever Will Take, - - - - 87 

All Ready, Sir, ------"" 93 

Casting from a Canoe {Inst.), - - - - - - - 97 ' 

John Danforth's Camp on Fake Parmachene, Me., - - - loi ' 

A Camp Scene {Inst.), - - - - - - - - 105 

Grand Falls and Pool on the Xepisiguit River, X. P., - - 109 

Pabineau Falls on the Xepisiguit River. Looking Up Stream {Inst.) - in ; 



75 



/ 



xvi Ilhtstrations. 



Page y 
Pabineai- Falls. Looking Down Strkam, - - - , - 113 ^ 



117 ' 



A Snap Shot at Mic-Macs {/us/.), _ . . . _ 

In a Mic-Mac Lodge. Small Mic-.Mac Taklnc; a Siesta, - - 121 i. 

View on the Matafedia River, P. n. Near the UpsALi^Jurrcii, - 125 ;■ 

View ok the Matapedia Valley, Looklng Up the Stream Across the 

Restigouche River, N. B., - - - - - - 127 

Valley oe 'jtie Restigouche River, .\. ii., Looking Down the Sikeam — 

Sugar Loaf Mountains in the IJistance, . . - . 

A Bass Relievo, -._.-_.. 

A Lake Trout, - - - - ' - 

A Rangeley Trout. Not Handsome, but it Weighed it-Yz lbs., 

Pl's a Good One, _-.-----. 

Pioneer Steamer on the Schoodic Lakes, Me., 

Falls on a Tributary oe thjc Cascapedia River, P. Q. , - 

View on the Gascapedia River, ------ 

Salmon Falls on the Cascapedia River, _ - 

Thirty-eive Salmon Taken by Four Rods in Three Days on the Cas 

CAPEDiA River, -------- 

Lord Stanley's Fishing Cottage on the Cascapedia River, 
Lorne's Fishing Cottage on the Cascapedia River, 
Good Morning. Camp of Guides to a Salmon Fishing Party, - 
A Rough Camp, Indeed, ------- 

-A. Lovely Spot for a Cast {JnsL), ---_.. 
A Large Fish for a Light Rod, ------ 

Casting the Fly, - - - - - - - - 

Just Up, - ..- 

A Long Cast (/ns/.j, - - - - - 

Landing a Salmon (Inst.), ------- 

Big Rock Pool, -------- 

The Lower Pool, _...----- 

The Upper Pool {Inst.), - - - - - 

Famous Salmon Pool on the Aiargaree River, Cape Breton, 
View of the Upper Margaree, Cape Breton, _ . - 



131 


/ 


133 


/ 


137 


/ 


141 


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J45 


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149 


V 


151 


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155 


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159 


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163 


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167 


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173 


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187 
199 


/ 


209 




215 




219 


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225 


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227 


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229 


V 


233 


r 


239 


\/ 


243 


\y' 



'-^ 



261 ' 

263 " 
265 ■ 
267 - 
269 ■ 

271 -' 



Illustrations. xvii 

Page 
Old Mill Near Port Milgravk, N. S., - - - - - 245 

Cape Breton TEA^[ am> Teamster {Inst.), ----- 247 

Leaa-l\c. I'dri- MrL(;RA\-E, (Inst, from Moving; Steamer), - - - 249 

A'lEw OF THE Strait oe Cansd from Port .Melcrave, X. S., - - 251 

PuRi- llAWKsiiUKV, Cape P>ret():n, - - - - - - -53 ' 

Steamer Mark-n Kntekem; the First Lucks on St. Peter's Canal {Inst.). 255 ^ 
Passino Throit.h St. Peter's Canal {Inst, from Moviiii; .Stea//ier). - 257 

Eras D'Or End oe St. Peter's Canal {Inst, from Moving- Steamer), ■ 259 

ViE\v OF Sydney, Cape Breton, from Cemeiery Hill, 
LuNc; Pier at Sydney, ------- 

All There is Left of Poor Old Loi;isK(n;Ri;, - - - - 

^L\IN Street of B.a.ddeck, Cape Breton, - - - - 

The Stone Jail at Bai>de;ck, ------ 

Approach to Badd?:ck ky' Road, - - - - ~ 

LitHTTHOFSE ON LITTLE NaRRoNYS, LaKE BRAS D'OR, CaPE BrEToN {/ust.) 273 

"Solomon's Cellar" Pool, Near Ross's Farm, - - -75 

Celehkated Plaster Ledi'.e and Pool on the >L\R(;aree Riyer, C B., 277 

Pool on the Middle Riyer, Cape Breton, - • - - 279 

Thi: Vh.la(;e of Northeast ^L\ri;aree, Capt: Brf:ton, 

The Hotse that Sheltered rs at Northeast >Lyri;aree, 

French Fishing Station of Chetticamp, on Cllf Shore, Cape Breton, 

Landing for Fishing Boats, Near Chetticamp, 

Reflections Spring Near Ross's House, Northeast .Margaree, - 2S9 

Enough for Breakfast, Anyway {Inst.), - - - - - 291 

^YHYK()KOMAGH FROM THE STEAMBOAT WHARF, - - - -93 

Bay View Hotel at AVhykokomagh, Cape Breton, - - 295 

Falls Two Hendred Feet, in Height on the ^L\R(;aree Riyer, 297 

Falls on the Margaree Below Cape Cli:ar, ■ - -99 

Cape Clear on Margaree Riyer, ------ ^oi 

F:el Weirs at Outlet of Lake Ainslee {Inst, from Moving- IFaifon). 3"3- 

"Below this Bridge is a Large Deep Pool,' - - - • 

Flat Rock Pool on the Jacquf:t River, X. B.- 
Ward's Pool on the Jacquet Riyer, - - - ' " 



281 



2S7 



305 
307 
309 



X \' i i i Ilhistrafions. 



Page / 

Snai' Shot at Xkw Brunswick Girls on Cliff Near jAcorKr Ri\-kk {Inst.), 313 

Ledce ok Windmill Pool on the Jacquet River, - - ■■ 315 ^ 

Reflections. Old Bridge and Mill on the Jacqlf.t Rivkr, - - 319 -^ 

Barclay's Hotel, Near Jacquet River {Inst.), . . . . 32$^^ 

Beach and Cliff on Baie des Chaleurs, Near the Jacquet River, - 329 ^ 
Children Playing on the Beach on Baie des Chaleurs, near Jacquet 

River {hisf.), - - - - - - - - 33 1 -^ 

Hell Gate Pool on the Jacquet River, . - , . - 333 ■/ 

Upper Horse Shoe Pool on the Jacquet River, - - - 337 "^ 

Taking Solid Comfort, - - - - - - - - 34^ ^ . 

A Hard Pool to Kill a Salmon in, - - - - - 347 "^ 

A Comfortable Camping Place, - - - - - - - 35i /^ 

Silvery Beauties, - - - - - - - • 355 •/ 

A Rangeley Giant, Weight 11)4 lbs., - - - - - -361/ 

Fish Traps and Operating Houses at Grand Lake Stream, Me. {//is/.), 363^ 

Fish Hatchery at Grand Lake Stream, - - - - - 365 f^. 

Taking Spawn and Milt Simultaneously at Grand Lake Stream {Ins/.), 367 

Taking the Eggs from a Salmon {Ins/.), ----- 369 

Restigouche Fish Hatchery at Deerside, P. (^., - - - 371 a/ 

Fertile and Infertile Salmon Eggs, ------ 373 , 

Female Schoodic Salmon, After Spawning, _ - _ - 375 '- 

Don't You Wish You Had Been There? ----- 377 '- 

A Forty-Eight Pounder, ------- 379 . 

Striped Bass, ..------- 381 ■ 

Landing a Sea Trout, --._.-- 383 • 

A "Lean-to" Camp, Built of Logs, ------ 385 „ 

A String of Trout, -------- 387 ^ 

Mending the Birch, -------- 389 , 

y 

Flat Lands, Restigouche Valley, ------ 391 

A Handsome String of Sea Trout, ------ 393 '^' 

A Three-Pound Sea Trout, - - - - - - - 395 ' 

Heads of Sea Trout, - - - - - - - - 397 ' 

V^iEW of Quebec from Levis, -..__- 399 / 



Illustrations. xix 

Page 

View of Quebec from St. Charles River, - - 401 

Fishing Party on Lake Edward, P. Q., {Inst.), - . . - 403 '^ 

Outlet of Lake Edward— Head of Jeannot River, - - - 405 " 

On the Jeannot River Near Lake Edward, .... 407 ' 

Pioneer Steamer Peribonca on Lake St. John, P. (^., - - - 409 '- 

A Pair Worth Weighing, - - - ■ - - - - 411 " 

Winninish, ---------- 413 '- 

A Winninish, - - - - - - - - - 415 - 

Winninish, Great and Small, - - - - - - - 417 '- 

The Winninish Landed {Inst.), ....... 419 . 

The Montagnais Indians, Lake St. John, P. Q., - - - - 421 '- 

View of Lake St. John from Point aux Trembles, - - - 423 ' 

Playing a Winninish on L.ake St. John {Inst.), - - - - 425 • 

Ouiatchouan Falls, Near Lake St. John, - _ - - 427 ^ 

"A Trophy, This"— Rangeley Trout, . - - . . 429 <- 

R. C. Leonard at New York Tournament Casting for Distance with 

Salmon Rod, - - - - - - - - 43 1 ' 

James L. Breese at New York Tournament Casting for Accuracy- with 

Single-Handed Fly-Rod, - - - - - - - 433 

W. A. Blackford at New York Tournament Castini; for Distance 

WITH Single-Handed Fly-Rod, ------ 435 

R. B. Lawrence at New York Tournament Casting t'or Distance with 

Single-Handed Fly-Rod, ------- 437 ' 

Descending Rapids in a Birch {Inst.), ----- 439 ^ 

The River -Was Very High, - - - - - - - 44i ' 

Metabetchouan River Below the Falls, - - - -, 443 - 

Metabetchouan Falls, P. Q., - - - - - - 445 ' 

Navigating Rough Waters in a Dugout {Inst.), - - - - 447 - 

Red Ledge Pool, - - -- - - - - 45 1 

View on Lake Edward, P. Q., - - - - - - - 453 

Captain Burchell's Treasures {Inst.) - - - - - 461 ' 

Hotel Roberval, Lake St. John, P. Q., - - - - 4^7 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 



CHAPTER I. 

Our First Night on the River. • How to See a Salmon in a Deep Pool. 
Spearing and Gill-Netting Discussed and Condemned. • Cape Breton 
Salmon Spearing. • Hard Luck. • The Boy Told a Straight Story. 
Destruction Caused by Seining. • A Startling Splash in the Pool. 
Fly-Fishing by Moonlight for Trout and Salmon. • The Delights of 
Angling. - The Difference Between the True Sportsman and the Fish 
Killer. • The Miramichi and its Tributaries. • Some Fishery Sta- 
tistics. • Changes in the Life of the Salmon. • Did you ever See 
a Female Grilse? • How to Drag a Salmon Fly. • Favorite Flies. 

ILVBITS OF THE SALMON. • KELTS ARE UnFIT FOR FoOD. 

ANOTHER year had passed away, and again we 
were encamped by the side of one of the most 
picturesque rivers in Canada. Our tent was pitched near 
the "third pool," and was pleasantly located in a grove 
of firs, hemlocks and maples, on a little knoll a few 
feet from the eastern shore of the river, and but two 
or three rods from the rapids which form the head of 
the pool. 

It was the evening of our first day on the river, 
and a hearty supper, such as only a fisherman knows how 



22 JVith ■ Fly- Rod and Camera. 

m 

to enjoy, had been disposed of, and we were indulging 
in that supreme enjoyment which a good cigar, a perfect 
digestion and such surroundings could give. 

We had had a hard day's work in ascending the 
river, and had found but small sport with the fly, for 
there are but few good pools below the third, two of 
them only being considered of enough importance to be 
named. We had found the water low and clear, and 
the day was bright ; but in spite of these drawbacks we 
had made a score of fifteen or twenty nice sea trout 
and a grilse. 

Frere, my comrade on this occasion, was a sports- 
man in the best sense of the word, a student and lover 
of nature also, and a scholarly man besides. 

He had been with me before on more than one 
outing, and was a most agreeable and altogether enjoy- 
able companion. We had found the river so low, that 
in many places our canoe could not possibly be poled 
up the rapids, loaded as she was so heavily with us, our 
stores, and our two canoemen or guides, and we had 
waded a good part of the day. 

Of course wading is expected by every fisherman, 
and in fact it would be a tame day indeed, if a good 
part of the time were not spent in two feet, more or 
less, of water. 



24 JVith Fly-Rod and Cmnera, 

But after the day's work is done, and the wet clothes 
are doffed, and warm, dry ones put on for the night, 
what a feehno- of intense satisfaction and rest and utter 
comfort one enjoys, as he stretches himself out on his 
thick bed of hemlock boughs, as we did after enjoying 
our evening meal. 

It is my invariable rule on my fishing trips to have 
a warm, dry change of clothes, in which to pass the 
night. No matter how much wading one does in the 
cold, almost icy cold water of the mountain stream, if 
the change of clothes is at hand, no discomfort follows 
the exposure. 

And after the dry woolens are donned, how one's 
skin glows, and what a sense of satisfaction is felt as 
the comrades repose before the camp fire, and while 
watching the blaze curl about the snapping logs, discuss 
the events of the day, and fight their battles o'er again. 

It was under such conditions as I have described 
that we enjoyed our first night's outing. 

Before us, across the river, looming up against the 
heavens, was a high, steep, rugged cliff ; behind and 
around us on all other sides was the forest, which ex- 
tended almost unbroken for hundreds of miles. ' 

In front of the camp was the fire, and around it in 
careless attitudes we reclined, together with our two ca- 



J4^ith Fly-Rod and Camera. 25 

noemen. For a while neither of us spoke, but gave our- 
selves entirely to our thoughts and to the goddess 
Nicotine. 

" It's a great pity I lost that salmon in the second 
pool," at length exclaimed my friend, who had been 
busily engaged in drying his wading stockings. " He 
must have been lightly hooked, for I handled him as 
carefully as I could." 

"Yes," I replied, "the hook came back with a jerk. 
I should think perhaps it struck the bone of the jaw, 
and not finding enough to hold it, came away at the 
first turn of the fish." 

"'Twas a right neat cast you made that time," said 
Hiram, the elder of the guides, joining in the conver- 
sation. " I think it was about ninety feet ; I saw the 
fish just foment the fly, a cast or two before he rose. 
He made an offer at it, but not in real earnest. 'Twas 
when the fly went beyant and passed fairly over him 
that he took it." 

"I didn't see him until he rose," replied my friend, 
"or I should have fished differently." 

"You wouldn't have done any better, likely as not, 
if you had seen him," said William, the other guide, 
"it was a fresh-run fish, and took when a good chance 
came." 



26 IVith Fly-Rod and Cmnera. 

"You say you saw him before he rose, Hiram," I 
exclaimed, "do you mean that you saw the fish away 
down in the pool, at that distance?" 

"Indeed he did," said Wilham, "and so did I; the 
fish was lying up against a blue rock in the eddy. 
Hey, Hiram?" 

Such keenness of sight seemed almost incredible, 
but I had witnessed numerous instances of it before, 
and I saw no reason to doubt their statement in the 
present instance. The training of the vision of the 
guides and river men is something absolutely wonderful. 
Many and many a time have I stood beside a salmon 
pool, and had my guide count the fish lying in the 
water, sometimes a dozen at a time, when I positively 
could not see a hn. It is only in late years that I 
have learned how to look for a salmon beneath the 
surface of the water. 

It is an accomplishment difficult to acquire, and 
hard to describe. In the first place, the uneducated 
observer looks for something whitish in the water, in 
searching for a salmon, whereas he should look for a 
fish grayish in color and with a .bluish-green back; for 
the salmon in its native element almost always shows 
that color, unless it has been long in the river, and 
even then it does not lose its bluish back entirely, 



28 With Fly- Rod and Cmnera. 

although it becomes much darker. Again he looks for 
a large fish, when if he searched for something near 
what he would expect to be the dimensions of a good- 
sized trout, he would come nearer the mark. 

I can recall a number of instances of seeing what I 
supposed to be either a large trout or a grilse, but 
which, on being killed, proved to be a good-sized sal- 
mon. 

It is to be remembered that the salmon in the pool 
is covered generally with more water than the observer 
dreams of; and I have often found a depth of fifteen 
feet in a pool where I hardly expected three. Such a 
depth dwarfs the size of the fish to the eye, and it is 
only by much practice that one learns to look through 
the water for the fish for which he is searching. 

" Oh, yes, I saw the salmon a good bit of time 
before he took the fly," said Hiram, cutting up a fresh 
filling of tobacco for his pipe, and rubbing it fine be- 
tween his hands, "and three more." 

"Is that so?" I exclaimed, "Why didn't you speak 
at the time?" 

"They were away down the pool beyant the fly," 
said William, "and two of them were scarred on the 
back. Hey, Hiram?" 

His brother was busily engaged in lighting his pipe 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 29 

with an ember at that moment, and only grunted an 
assent to WiUiam's query; but at length he answered, 
"Yes, blast the spearers, they're at it again." 

"I noticed some burnt remnants of birch bark on 
the rocks," quietly remarked Frere, who was still en- 
gaged with his wet stockings, "and supposed that the 
spearers were at their old tricks." 

"Yes, they're always at it every right night," said 
William, as he threw a fresh log on the fire, and ar- 
raneed the others so as to burn to better advantage, 
"and they can't be stopped neither, unless there's a man 
always handy to watch the big pools." 

'■ It's a pity they can't be stopped in their work in 
the lower pools," said I. "If they could be headed off 
there, they would hardly trouble the fish in the upper 
pools, they are so difficult of access." 

"Sure enough," replied William, "and the two lower 
pools, if let alone, would be the best salmon pools on 
the river, but the poachers can reach them in three or 
four hours from the mouth of the river, and they not 
only spear in them, but they often set gill-nets, and 
even sweep the pools with seines." 

"Too bad, too bad, altogether!" exclaimed Hiram, 
"they'll spile the river entirely." 

In order that their words may be better under- 



30 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

stood, I will make a brief explanation. Salmon spear- 
ing and netting are the two great causes of depletion 
of Canadian streams ; dipping, that is catching the fish 
with a large scoop-net in the runs, now being but little 
practiced. I have visited and fished quite a number of 
the streams, and found that one, if not both these pro- 
scribed methods of capturing the fish, was practiced on 
almost every one. It is done sttb rosa of course, but to 
the educated observer certain "siofns" of the marauders 
are always apparent, 

Salmon spearing is practiced in the following man- 
ner: The spear is usually a steel lance, sharply pointed, 
and fixed in the end of a strong pole. At both sides 
of this lance are pliable wooden springs. When the 
fish is struck, the steel pierces its back, and at the same 
time the springs fly open and clasp the fish and hold it 
firmly, A dark, cloudy night is chosen, and at a time 
when the moon is not above the horizon. 

The spearer, usually in a dugout or a canoe, but 
sometimes on a rudely constructed catamaran or raft, is 
paddled or poled silently by a confederate over the pool. 

In the bow of the boat, affixed to a staff, or lying 
in a pan, Is a roll of blazing birch bark, and its flame 
lights up the water brilliantly, wherever the rays of the 
light penetrate. The fish pay no attention to the blaze, 



32 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

or if they do they are attracted by it, for the)' seem 
to swim in the circle of light, but not beyond it. 

The spearer, standing crouched behind the burning 
bark, holds his weapon In readiness for a quick thrust, 
and I am told by those who have seen it done, that 
the blow is given by a practiced hand with the rapid- 
ity of lightning. 

The fish is struck, and lifted or flung into the boat 
with one quick effort, in fact, to use the words of a 
o-entleman who used occasionally to go with the Indians 
salmon spearing, "The fish was flouncing and flapping 
in the canoe, even without my seeing the Indians make 
the blow, so quickly was it struck." 

All the fish in a pool may thus be killed by an 
expert in a short time, and if any by chance escape, as 
they sometimes do, they are often so cut and gashed by 
the sharp steel as eventually to die from the injuries 
received. 

After his work is done, the spearer often carelessly 
throws the scorched remnants of birch bark upon the 
shore, or casts them into the river, but the)' are soon 
landed on a jutting beach, and they appear as a certain 
evidence of the presence of the despoiler. , 

"Yes, spearing makes bad work in the river," said 
William, musingly. " I've often seen fish that had been 



JVith Fly-Rod and Camera, 33 

cut with the spear but not killed, and it spiles them for 
breeders,"* 

"Not only that," added my friend, who was now re- 
clining at his ease beside me, "but the fish that escape 
are always shy and wild the rest of the season, and they 
will pay no attention to the fly whatever." 

"Yes, it is greatly to be desired that spearing should 
be stopped," said I, "but the problem is how it can be 
done; no law can be strictly enforced unless public sen- 
timent is with it. On all the rivers upon which I know 
that spearing is practiced, the majority of the residents 
in the different localities do not disapprove of it, and 
very often many otherwise respectable men take their 
turns at it. Let me give you a single instance : 

" I was fishing the Margaree; that noble salmon river 
in Cape Breton. I was up the river some twenty or 
thirty miles from its mouth, and was casting in one of 
the finest pools I ever saw. At every cast I expected 
a rise, for the water was right, and the pool looked as 
if it ought to have at least a dozen fish in it. I 
worked with the greatest care and patience, and covered 
the pool in all directions with every variety of fly that 
I thought ought to move the capricious beauties, but not 

* The dialogues, if not conventional, are correct, having been jotted down 
verbatim.— -Y.. A. S. 



34 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

a rise did I get, except from a few insignificant trout. 
I could not quite understand it at first, for I knew that 
the sahiion were ascending the river, as they had been 
taken in a number of the pools below. At length, 
however, when I went to the foot of the pool and 
crossed over to the rocks on the other side, I found a 
number of the tell-tale remnants of burned rolls of birch 
bark. I returned to my first position at the rapids, at 
the head* and beo-an castingr ao-ain, but I had no faith 
in my work, for I knew that the poacher had fore- 
stalled me. Presently I was joined by a man who had 
been at work in the adjacent hay field, and we soon 
entered into conversation. 

" ' Gitting any fish?' he asked. 

"'No, nothing but a few sea trout,' I replied, 'it's 
strange I don't move a salmon ; there ousfht to be some 
here, but I haven't stirred a fin yet.' 

"'Yes, it's about time for um to be running up,' 
he answered, naively, 'and, in fact, my boys seen some 
here a day or two back.' 

"'At all events,' I replied, 'there's none here now, 
and I may as well go to the pools further up.' 

"'Perhaps you don't fish right, mister,' he answered, 
'or may be your flies ain't just right; you ought to get 
a salmon in this water, sure.' All this quite innocently. 



S6 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"'Well, I cannot say about the way I fish, whether 
it is right or not,' I said, 'but the flies are all right, 
and I have tried every kind I have. It seems to me 
there must have been spearing going on here lately,' I 
added, looking him in the eye, and at the same time 
handing him a cigar, 'there are certainly quite a number 
of birch bark embers lying on the rocks yonder.' 

"'Spearing! Oh, no, mister; there ain't no spearing 
done around here,' he exclaimed in a tone that ought to 
have convinced me. ' Why, look, up yonder lives one of 
the river wardens,' and he pointed to a cottage an eighth 
of a mile from the pool. ' Oh, no, we don't have no 
spearing in this pool, not much. Well, I must be get- 
tinor to work acrain,' he said, after watchin^ me a short 
time in my efforts to rise a fish. 'Cast away into the 
eddy, the other side of the rapids, mister, and may be 
you'll rise a salmon yet ; you're fishing all right, and the 
flies are good ones ; fish careful ! Oh, no, we don't have 
no spearing in this pool,' he ejaculated, as he disappeared 
in the bushes behind me. 

" Now, for real genuine finesse your countryman is 
not to be outdone by a city dweller, and my man in 
this instance acted his part perfectly ; but he was lying 
to me all through, as I proved inside of ten minutes. 

" I was casting in the eddy below the rapids, and 



With Fly- Rod and Camera, 37 

had hooked a very fine sea trout. Beini^ alone, my 
friends having left for the pools above, I had consider- 
able difficulty in killing my fish, but was finally assisted 
by a youngster ten or twelve years of age, who oppor- 
tunely arrived on the rocks, and taking my net, landed 
my fish quite skillfully. 

"'That's a nice trout, mister,' he exclaimed, as he 
laid the fish upon the beach, how much will he weigh, 
s'pose?' 

" I tooJ^ out my pocket scales, and found that the 
trout a little overran three and a half pounds. 

" 'He isn't quite as big as the one I got yesterday, 
thouQ^h,' said the lad. ' I trot him ritrht there in the 
bend, 'side of that rock.' And he pointed into the pool 
as he spoke. 

"'How did you get him, my boy?' I asked, quite 
innocently, ' I should think a large fish would be too 
much for you.' And I began casting again, awaiting 
his reply. 

" '.Oh, I got him just the way I get a good many 
more. I snared him!' 

"'Snared him!' I exclaimed, 'how under the sun 
could you snare a trout?' 

"'Ho! easy enough,' he answered, 'all you've got 
to do is to get some wire, and make a slip-noose on it, 



38 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

and drop it down in front of tht trout, and then slip it 
over his head, and pull like mighty, and he's caught ; no 
get away from that, sure.' 

"'And so you noosed him, hey?' I replied. 

"'No, I snared him,' the boy insisted, 'and just at 
dark, yesterday afternoon, I seen a salmon lying there,' 
pointing into the pool near where I stood, ' and I struck 
him with my spear, but he got away.' 

"'Oh, so you have a salmon spear, have you?' I 
replied, carelessly, still busy casting. ' I should think you 
were not big enough to handle one.' 

"'Oh, mine's a trout spear,' he rejoined, 'mine isn't 
as big as father's, mine's only for trout.' 

" 'And so you spear the trout, do you, in addition 
to snaring them,' said I. 'Why, you are quite a smart 
fisherman ; it is not every boy of your age who can catch 
fish the ways you can.' 

" ' I guess,' he answered, naively. 
"'And what kind of a spear has your father got?' 

"'Oh, , his is a reg'lar salmon spear, and he knows 
how to use it, too, I can tell you ; why the folks around 
here say he is the boss spearer.' 

" ' Is that your father at work there in the meadow 
yonder?' I asked, pointing to the man who had lately 
visited me at the pool. 




^ ^1 •*'* "PWv 




40 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"'Yes, that's my father,' said the lad, 'he's haying.' 

"'And you say he's the champion spearer, is he?' I 
continued in the same careless tone. ' How many salmon 
do you suppose he can spear in a night if he has good 
luck? I once knew an Inciian that killed five in one 
nipfht.' 

" ' Oh, my pa sometimes gets ten in a night, he's 
boss.' This with a proud tone. 

" 'And what do you do with so many? I should 
think you would get tired of so much salmon all the 
time.' 

"'Oh, ma corns [salts] them for winter. Last week, 
pa, he speared a big one, the biggest I ever seen in all 
my life.' 

"'Where did he get him?' I asked. 

"'Oh, in the pool up there,' and he pointed to a 
pool up the river, in plain view from the warden's house. 

"'What, in that pool! I should think the spearers 
would be afraid of the warden.' 

"'Ho! they ain't afraid of him much.' 

"■'So!' I exclaimed, carelessly, 'what would they do 
if he came to the pool when they were at work spear- 
ing?' 

"'They'd take rocks and stone him out o' that! 
He'd be glad to let them alone.' 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 41 

"'Ah, did he ever get stoned away?' I asked. 

"'He did that,' was the reply. 'Oh, he won't 
trouble any one.' 

"'So your father killed the big salmon?' I continued. 

"'Yes, he was a buster,' replied the boy. 'You see 
he laid in this pool two or three days, and all the neigh- 
bors tried to get him, but he was too big for any spear 
they had. He was struck hard more than once, and he 
had a big gash on his back when father got him. They 
drove him out of this pool, chasing him so much.' 

" 'What do you mean by saying he was too big for 
any of the spears?' I asked. 

"'Oh, his back was so thick that the tines Avouldn't 
spread enough. Pa got a spear made all iron, and that 
fetched him pretty quick. He was a big one!' 

"'How much did he weigh?' I asked, reeling in my 
line, and preparing to leave. 

"'Thirty-eight pounds, and over,' was the boy's reply. 

"'He was a good one,' I exclaimed. 'Well, I think 
I'll be going now,' I said, gathering up the few trout I 
had taken. 

"'There isn't much fun fishing the way you do, 
mister,' said the youngster. ' It must be as hard work 
as chopping wood. A drag-net is the thing to catch a 
lot of trout with!' 



42 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"'Yes,' I replied, quite unembarrassed. 'What a lot 
of big fish I could sweep out of the pool with a good- 
sized net!' 

"'Well, not so great many to-day, mister,' answered 
the lad. ' The folks over in that house,' pointing to a 
farm house across the river, ' have got a large net, big 
enough to stretch away over the pool, and they catch 
lots of trout' 

" 'Ah,' said I, carelessly, 'when did they sweep the 
pool last, my boy?' 

" ' Last night, mister, and they got a pile of big ones ! 
Mister, say, gimme a fly-hook.' I handed the youth trib- 
ute in the shape of a gray hackle, and went on my way 
in a meditative mood. 

"As I passed the meadow, I saw the farmer who was 
still at his work in the hay field, and I almost seemed to 
hear him muttering to himself, ' Spearing ! Oh, no, mister, 
there ain't no spearing done round here, not much!'" 

"Ha, ha, the lad gave it all away," exclaimed Hiram, 
when I had finished my story. 

"Yes, you got it all, straight," added William. 

Frere indulged in an amused chuckle at my casting 
so faithfully in the pool that had been netted the night 
before, saying, " I wonder how many times you changed 
your flies over that pool.?" 



JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 43 

"Times without number," I replied, "the water looked 
so good, I felt sure there were salmon lying there." 

"Well, now, after all's said about spearing," exclaimed 
William, after a pause, "it destroys no more salmon than 
sweeping with the seine." 

"Yes," assented Hiram, "one's bad as 'tother, and it's 
mighty hard choosing." 

"Seining the pools is not practiced as much as spear- 
ing, however," said Frere. "In the first place, the seine 
is much more expensive than the spear, and is not as 
easily obtained. Again, there is greater chance for dis- 
covery. No. I don't think as much mischief is done 
with the seine as with the spear, but both implements 
are bad thinofs on the river." 

"There's little choice," I replied, "seining can be done 
on almost any night, in fact in the day time, while spear- 
ing can be carried on only in dark nights." 

"After all," I continued, after another pause, "we can- 
not say that the action of the spearers and netters is en- 
tirely unreasonable, looking at it from their standpoint." 

"Hey!" exclaimed Frere. "I did not expect that 
from you. Doctor." Frere always insisted on calling me 
Doctor, and the title finally became fastened to me among 
my guides and boatmen. 

"Well, now, look at it," I continued. "In the first 



44 PVitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

place, for how many months of the open season may 
gill-netters keep their nets set in tidal waters?" 

" From May first to August first in the Province of 
Quebec, and from March first to August fifteenth in Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick," replied Frere. 

"Well," I continued, "there are three months at least, 
during which, under certain small restrictions, people living 
on the shore may net all the salmon they desire, or can 
catch, and taking this into consideration, is it to be won- 
dered at that some of those, who living on the river, yet, 
unfortunately for them, above tide-water, should think it 
no more than fair that they should get a few of the fish 
that escape their more fortunate tide-water neighbors who 
may net them legally ? 

" Many of these so-called poachers are hard-working 
farmers, and mighty hard scratching they have for a living, 
I can attest, who do not taste any fresh meat sometimes 
for a week or more at a stretch. Now, I can under- 
stand just how they feel, for I have talked with many 
of them, and I tell you, Frere, a good many others would 
spear and net if they were situated as they are. 

"Here is a river runninof through their farms, we'll 
say, and salmon passing up nightly. The people about 
the mouth of the river on the bay shore have a legal 
right to take the fish with the net, but the moment the 




In Camp. 



46 PVitli Fly- Rod aiui Camera. 

salmon reach the water which passes through the land of 
these people, the law prohibits the settlers from doing at 
any time just what their neighbors may do almost with- 
out restraint, for three months and over. Now, of course, 
I am not excusing spearing and seining ; not for an in- 
stant am I, for I know that if it were permitted in the 
streams, the salmon would be exterminated. No, I am 
of the opinion that gill-netting on the shores should be 
curtailed very greatly, even if it is allowed at all. 

"I am, for one, selfish enough to wish that surface 
fly-fishing alone might be the legal method for taking 
salmon, but so long as gill-netters and tide-water seiners 
and weirsmen are allowed to kill without limit, as they 
are now by law in the open season, the people who live 
on the rivers are bound to have a share, too." 

"The tide-water netters have too great privileges/' 
said Frere, who had been quietly listening to the con- 
versation. 

"That is just it," I replied, "cut down the time they 
may set their nets fully one-half. Prohibit the setting of 
any salmon net or weir on the shore, within one mile of 
the mouth of any river frequented by these fish — the legal 
distance now is two hundred yards — throw open the rivers 
free to all who fish with the fly, thus doing away with 
the system of leasing, which 1 do not believe in, and my 



Witli Fly-Rod and Camera, 47 

word for it, but few years will elapse before the men 
who now kill with the spear and net will take to the 
fly-rod, and there will then be a chance for the rivers ; 
the salmon will multiply and all fly-fishermen will have 
sport worth striving for. Make fly-fishing possible for all, 
and spearing will soon become odious to all. * 

At that moment we heard a tremendous plunge and 
splash in the pool before us. 

"Ah, ha, my lad!" exclaimed William, "You're a big 



one 



I" 



At his words we heard two more plunges like the 
first one, but in different parts of the pool. 

"They're running up," exclaimed Hiram, "sure we'll 
have sport to-morrow altogether."! 

Frere and I arose to our feet, and walking down to 
the edge of the pool, watched and listened. The rustle 
of the foliage of the trees, and the rattling gurgle of the 
water in the rapids at the head of the pool , the occa- 
sional hooting of the great horned owl, the harsh yet not 

* In the report of the Maine Commissioners of Fisheries and Game for iS86, 
I find the following- paragraph: "The testimony of many men can be adduced in 
Bangor and Calais, who never dreamed of the possibility of taking a salmon with 
what was termed a "fish-pole,' who are now converts to the rod and fly, and fierce 
opponents to any other methods above tide-water. Such is their enthusiasm for the 
newly experienced delight of killing a salmon in a fair trial of skill." 

t Hiram and William, although of English descent, had many unaccountable 
Irish idioms in their speech, as will be noticed throughout. 



48 Witli Fly- Rod and Camera. 

unpleasant stridulation of an occasional locust, the droning- 
flight of some great beetle, were all the sounds that broke 
the stillness of the vast forest around. 

Before us, towering up high in the darkness, was the 
cliff on the further side of the river. In the heavens above 
the stars w^ere shining with the greatest brilliancy, and as 
we stood upon the shore, the moon, like an immense silver 
sphere, suddenly appeared above the edge of the forest in 
the east ; larger it grew until it appeared in the full glory 
of the planet, and never before had I seen it when it 
seemed of such enormous dimensions. This was doubtless 
owing to the clearness of the mountain atmosphere, but 
it seemed as if it covered a third of the entire opening 
in the forest, made by the channel of the river. On the 
water it made a broad pathway of light, and the dew- 
covered foliacre of the trees a-Hstened and orhmmered as if 

o o o 

made of polished silver. 

It was a magnificent scene, weird, yet very beautiful. 
As I gazed almost entranced, I was startled by a sudden 
mighty splash close to the shore where I was standing, 
and in an instant a salmon, leaping at least five feet in 
the air, fell back into the pool, throwing the water up all 
around me, and even into my face. Instinctively I stepped 
back for a moment, for although I knew what had hap- 
pened, and had even been expecting it, the close prox- 



50 IVitJi Fly- Rod and Can/ em. 

imity of the fish had startled me, just as even the oldest 
and most experienced sportsman will for an instant recoil, 
if a ii;-rouse jumps up with a thundering Avhirr from a bush 
beside him, and flies away into the covert. 

"By Jove, Frere!" I exclaimed, "that fish made me 
jump, I was taken by surprise." 

"Yes, it was enough to startle any one," he replied, 
"to be splashed that way." 

As he spoke, another fish in the middle of the pool 
leaped into the air, glistening in the moonlight like silver. 
Another and another flung itself from the water, and then 
all was still again. 

"Frere, we are going to have sport to-morrow," I ex- 
claimed, "the pool is full of them." 

"Why not to-night?" he asked in a quiet tone, at 
the same time oroincr to the tent for his rod. 

"To-night?" I exclaimed. "What, with the fly?" 

"Yes, of course," he replied, removing the fly that 
was on his line, "it will not be the first time I have 
fished in the night. Overhaul your flies, please, and see 
if you have not a nice white moth." 

I took out my book, and proceeding in the bright 
moonlight to examine my stock of flies, soon found some 
white ones or "millers" which Frere pronounced "capital." 
The wings and body were entirely white. 



J/l/ith Fly- Rod and Camera. 51 

I gave him one, and attaching another to my own 
casting Hne, or leader, we began to cast, he near the foot 
of the pool, and I near the rapids at the head. I had 
made hardly a half dozen casts when I got a rise, and 
hooked a heavy fish, and, glancing at Frere, I saw that 
he was equally successful. Shouting to our sleeping guides 
who had not been awakened by our screaming reels, we 
were soon joined by them, 

"What have you got on?" inquired William, who with 
gaff in hand came hurriedly to my side. 

"I don't know," I replied, slowly, reeling in the line 
which had been run out across the pool. " I thought 
when the fish rose that it was a salmon, but it acts like 
a large trout." 

In a short time I was convinced that it was as I had 
suspected, a heavy, strong sea trout. It made furious runs, 
and was very powerful, but it did not show the full vigor 
of the salmon, and did not jump like that fish. 

I have killed salmon which did not jump more than 
once or twice from the time they were hooked until they 
came to gaff; and have also taken large sea trout that 
jumped a number of times clear of the water like a grilse ; 
but the "feel" of this fish was of a large trout, and yield- 
ing to my heavy rod, and coming to the landing net, it 
proved to be what I had suspected. 



52 PVifJi Fly- Rod mid Camera. 

It was a very handsome fish of nearly four pounds 
weight. PYere soon landed his, which proved to be an- 
other of about the same size as mine, and after that we 
got no more rises, although we cast dilio-ently for upward 
of half an hour. The fact is, one may take two or three 
of these large fish out of a pool at night, and then he 
must stop, for the fish will not rise ; wild and shy as they 
are in the day time, at night they are doubly suspicious, 
and the least unusual sound will alarm them. This fact 
has been noticed by more than one observer. I have 
often asked local fishermen, men who work through the 
day on their farms, but who at night take their "sapling 
poles" and try for a few fish for breakfast, "what success" 
they have had on such occasions. 

The reply has been almost invariably, "We got two 
or three nice ones out of the pool, and that's all ; we 
don't catch many at nio-ht." The singular thino- about 
their fishing is, that instead of using bait or the artificial 
fly, they almost invariably fish with a bit of white cotton 
or linen rag tied to their hook, this in their experience 
being more killing than any other lure. 

I have repeatedly fished pools on the edge of the 
evening with flies, using in many cases the "white miller," 
and have taken but a few small trout, and have been fol- 
lowed an hour or two later by one of these "white rag" 



IVith Fly- Rod and ' Camera. 53 

fishermen, who would generally pick out two or three 
heavy fish. There is no accounting for it, in fact there 
is no accounting for most of the caprices of the salmon 
family. 

* "It's not often that we do much at saumon [salmon] 
fishing in the night," said Hiram, as he stood beside us 
on the beach, "but I have seen it done. I was once 
fishing this river with a gentleman. We camped on a 
pool and caught a lot of fine trout, but had got no sau- 
mon during the day. After dark the gentleman and I 
began fishing with a light ?iy, and we were catching a fine 
lot of trout, when all of a sudden the gentleman hooked 
a saumon, and I had to "gather brush wood and burn it 
on the beach, to see how to gaff the fish. In a half hour 
the gentleman hooked another, and I gaffed that also; but 
it's rare that we ever take them at night, though we have 
often two hours of trout fishino- with white flies." 

" I have heard of taking the salmon with the fly at 
night," said I, when the guide had finished, "but never 
have seen it done. 

"Well, Frere, haven't you had enough of it?" 

"Yes," he replied, and, satisfied that the fish were 
done, we repaired to our camp, and soon we were again 
stretched upon our fragrant bed of hemlock boughs. 

* Literally from my notes on the river. — E. A. S. 



54 J/VitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

The camp fire with ruddy blaze threw a circle of light 
upon the trees around, and our tent was illumined brightly. 
The flaps were thrown open sufhciently to give us a good 
view of the fire, through the smoke of which the mos- 
quitoes did not pass to molest us. 

" I don't feel sleepy, notwithstanding the long, hard 
pull we've had all day," said I. "My first night in the 
woods is always a wakeful one." 

"Yes," replied Frere, "the novelty of the thing drives 
off sleep, but what a delight it is to get away into the 
wilderness aeain, and free from the conventionalities of 
civilization. I wonder if it is the old savage instinct in 
our nature asserting itself, that gives us such enjoyment." 

"Possibly," I replied, "though I have noticed that the 
most poetic natures, those of the highest aesthetic culture, 
enjoy such a life, or rather change of life as this, as fully 
as the least cultivated. It is difficult to say wherein the 
charm lies. So far as I am concerned, I enjoy my out- 
ings in the wilderness because they minister to all there 
is of poetry in my nature. Angling, my chief, in fact my 
almost only recreation, is an art that I love most fervidly. 
It carries me out as now into the arms of dear Mother 
Nature. It takes me to the grand old forest primeval, 
where I may behold the glimmer of the peaceful, beauti- 
ful mountain lake. 



56 With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

" It carries me where I may inhale the deHcioiis odor 
of the balsam and the hemlocks ; where 1 may hear the 
rustle and purl of the foliag'e-hidden brook. It carries me 
amidst the boil and roar of rapids in the mighty river. 
It brings to me the song of forest birds, the whispered 
fairy stories of shimmering leaves. Yes, it gives me all 
these sweet, these pure enjoyments, and it is because it 
gives me them that I love it. My great regret is that 
more of our young' men and young women, too, for that 
matter, do not take to it. Yes, our young women. Why 
not? In addition to the pleasure that is derived from the 
use of the fly-rod, it furnishes the best gymnasium, the 
best doctor, the best cure for narrow chests, pallid faces, 
weak nerves and poor digestions to be found ; and if our 
women wish the enjoyment of perfect health, they should 
give their attention to angling with the fly. I have met 
quite a number of ladies, ladies of the highest respect- 
ability, who could cast the fly gracefully, beautifully ; they 
were adepts at the art, and I would challenge the veriest 
stoic to gaze upon them unmoved. They were pictures of 
beauty, grace and vigor, and seeing them, I always wished 
that the art might be more popularized, even to the height 
of being recognized as an accomplishment. If it were, 
what wonders would it bring about in building up con 
stitutions which would be a glory to future generations." 



58 JVitJi Fly-Rod and Cajucra. 

"Ha, ha, Doctor," exclaimed Frere, induleine in a 
quiet lauo-h at my fervor, 'it is cjueer liow differently 
things appear to different people. I know of men whose 
only thought from the time they begin their fishing trips 
to the end is of the greatest possible number of fish they 
may capture. The beauties of nature, the opening buds, 
the lovely flowers, the graceful foliage of trees, the songs 
of birds, all are unnoticed by them. Their outings are 
only for fish." 

"Yes," I replied, "but they are not, in my opinion, 
true anglers, for I believe that your fish killer par excel- 
lence is nothing but a poacher, and thinly disguised at that ; 
he will not stop at methods to make a big score, and if 
he cannot kill with the fly — and I have noticed he is not 
particularly enthusiastic in its use — he will employ almost 
any instrument that will add to his string." 

"You're right, there," exclaimed Hiram, who, with 
his brother, was lying near the fire at the opening of the 
tent. "I was out with one of the 'fish killers' last year, 
and when the saumon in the pool wouldn't rise, he was 
wishing for a jig or a net, and even said he'd give five 
dollars for powder or dynamite to blow them up with." 

"He did that," assented William, "and he got so bad 
in the end, that we told him he must find other guides,' 
for we must leave him for our haying." 



With Fly-Rod and Camera, 59 

"On what river was that?" asked Frere. 

" Oh, it was on one of the rivers over the bay," re- 
phed Hiram. "I wouldn't Hke to say just which, for 
perhaps you would know the man, and we don't vvant to 
'o-ive him away,' but it is true, and he was not much 
worse than others we have been out with." 

"Ritrht vou are, Hiram," said WiUiam, "and we guides 
have had some quare [queer] men on the rivers, and many 
is the time we have been asked if we couldn't find a 

sweep-net." 

"It's acro-ravatintr altoo:ether," replied Hiram, "to see 
fifty or sixty big fish in a pool, see them swimming about 
as unconcerned as sticks, taking no notice of your flies, 
but flapping and jumping about under your nose, and 
sometimes I've agreed with the fishermen that it's mad- 
denincT enough for most anything, but it's not often they 
will not come to their senses in good time." 

" It's lucky that all who come on the rivers are not 
so crazy for fish," said William, "or we guides would go 
wild. Sometimes we go out with men who will care but 
little for the fishing, but spend almost all their time hunt- 
ing wild flowers and plants, and some are after strange 
rocks and stones, and now and then one is hunting birds' 
nests and birds. Sometimes we have been out with fish- 
ermen who cared for nothing but a 'lay off,' and they 



6o IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

drank much longer than they fished every day. Oh, we've 
been out with all kinds, on different rivers." 

"You don't get much variety on this stream at all 
events," said Frere, "for all our lessees are much like 
the Doctor and myself, enthusiastic fishermen, but not 
crazy fish killers." 

"No, this rivei* is lucky, but some of the streams 
need a good many Avardens," replied William. 

"Yes," replied Frere, "you are right, and some of 
the most important ones at that. Take the Miramichi 
waters, they are all fine salmon streams, but there is a 
vast deal of poaching and unfair fishing done on them, 
and the number of wardens or overseers should be trebled 
at least." 

"I have never fished on the Miramichi tributaries," 
said I, "except during the outing we spent together on 
them. I hear they are all fine streams." 

"They are," said Frere, "and the Southwest, North- 
west, Little Southwest and Sevogle are famous. They 
are early, too, the fish beginning to enter them about 
May 24, and continuing to pass up until about the last 
of September, * though very few are found running in 
August. They do not average as large as the Resti- 
gouche fish, some are taken of twenty-five pounds weight, 

^' Frere for the remainder of this chapter is Philip Cox, Esq., of Newcastle, N. B. 



62 ll/ith Fly- Rod and Camera, 

but the average is put at ten pounds ; they are, however, 
very gamy, and afford the angler excellent sport." 

"I suppose there are a good many taken," said Hiram, 
throwing a fresh log on the fire, and lighting his pipe 
anew. 

"Yes," replied P>ere, "the Government statistics are 
very full, and I believe accurate. Last year, which was 
but an average one, 18,700 fish were exported from these 
rivers, which, averaging ten pounds, would give a total 
of 187,000 pounds. In addition to these, large quantities 
found a local sale, many others' were taken by anglers, 
and a great many more by poachers, so that the annual 
catch must be over 20,000 fish." 

"About what time does fly-fishing begin?" asked 
William. 

"As soon as the spring freshet subsides, and the 
water eets clear, which is about the tenth or twelfth of 
June. The first fish are taken in Big Hole on the North- 
west, twenty miles above Newcastle, and eight above the 
head of the tide. This is one of the finest in Canada, 
and is free to all. You remember, Doctor,^ we fished 
there a few years ago. All the salmon frequenting the 
main river and the Sevogle pass through this great basin, 
and seem to take the fly well after leaving the brackish 
waters." 



IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 63 

"I suppose there are a good many good angling 
pools on those rivers," said I, when Frere had finished. 

"Oh, yes, on the Little Southwest there are Black- 
more's Rapids, Blue Stone, North Branch, and Main's 
Ledo-es, in all of which more or less salmon are killed 
each year. Big Hole, Dennis's Pool, Call's Pool, Camp 
Pool, Ruddick's Pool and Falls Pool, with many others, 
occur on the main Northwest, but with the exception of 
the first two, all these fishing privileges are owned by 
proprietors of the soil. 

"The chief pool on the Sevogle is the Square Forks, 
a most remarkable looking place, well worth a journey to 
see. The Renous, Dungamon and Southwest have also 
many fine pools." 

"Are all the pools easily reached?" 

" Many are, others with more or less difficulty, but 
all are accessible to the angler by means of canoe or 
portage wagon." 

"Have you had much fly-fishing on those streams?" 
asked Hiram, quite interested in Frere's account of waters 
that were comparatively strange to him and his brother. 

"Yes," replied Frere, "especially on the Northwest 
and Little Southwest, and some of my most enjoyable 
outings were spent there. I shall never forget my first 
trip to the North Branch Pool. It was some years ago. 



64 IVith Fly- Rod and Cam em, 

in company with my friend Barker, and by canoe. The 
river Is very heavy, rough, full of rapids, with an occa- 
sional fall, and Is seldom ascended by any but Indians. 
We were young, however, strong, and full of spirit, eager 
for the sport, and confident we could perform any feat 
an Indian could. We had no sooner entered the river 
at Red Bank than a heavy rain set In, and continued 
with slight intermissions for five or six days, swelling 
the stream, making every rapid a wild torrent, and every 
fall a Niagara. Luckily we took along a coil of small 
rope, which we attached to the bow bar of our bark canoe, 
and one going ahead, the other guiding the canoe from 
the shore with a pole which was provided with a hook 
at the end, we waded and draes^ed, and tumbled, foot- 
sore and wet to the skin, for seven days before we reached 
the pool. 

"How delio^hted we were to see this maofnificent basin! 
We camped by its shore, and for ten days had most ex- 
cellent sport ; and afterward an exciting experience shoot- 
ing the rapids and falls on our way down. We killed 
many salmon and grilse on that trip." 

"What do you consider to be the age of the grilse? 
I asked. " I have had many discussions with fishermen in 
relation to this point." 

"I can only guess as to that," replied Frere, "they 




Isn't She a Bkauty ? 



66 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

are young salmon, but just how old, I am in doubt. 
Probably a four-pound grilse is three years of age, but 
authorities differ on this point ; some say two years, some 
three, and others even four, but I doubt the latter. The 
smolt descends to the sea, probably when it is about 
eighteen months to two years old,* but nothing further 
of its movements seems to be known, f until its return 
to the river as a grilse, 

" W. H. Herbert says: " Smolts, as it now appears, in their second year, of 
six or seven inclies length, and about as many ounces weight, return peal or grilse, 
varying from two to eight pounds. '" " ""' That the identical smolt of six or 
seven ounces do return, .after two or three months' absence in the sea, as grilse of 
as many pounds weight, is proved beyond all dispute, smolts innunierable having 
been taken, marked with numbered tickets of zinc attached to the rays of their 
dorsal llns, set at liberty, and recaptured grilse, varying from two to eight pounds, 
in the autumn of the same year. The same experiment with the labels unremoved, 
shows that the same grilse descending the stream of unincreased magnitude in the 
spring of his third year, returns in that third autumn a iish of sixteen and upward 
to twenty-five pounds weight." 

f Ci. Brown Cloode says (in the Report (jf the U. S. Fish Commission, 18S4) ; 
"In two months the fry has grown to an inch and a half, and begins to assume 
the vermilion spots and transverse bars or fringe marks which entitle it to be called 
a 'parr,' and which it retains while remaining in fresh water, sometimes until it is 
seven or eight inches long. It continues a parr until the second or third spring, 
when, in preparation for, or perhaps in consequence of, a descent toward the sea, 
a uniform bright silvery coat is assumed, and the parr becomes a 'smolt.' After 
remaining from four to twenty-eight months in the salt water, it again seeks its 
native river, having become either a 'grilse' or a 'salmon.' The grilse is the 
adolescent salmon. It weighs from two to six pounds, and is more slender and 
graceful than the mature fish, \\ith smaller head, thinner scales, more forked tail, 
and spots rounder, more numerous ami bluish rather than jettv black. The two 
may easily be distinguished, even though both should be of the same size, as not 
ir.frequently happens. The male grilse is sexually mature, but not the female in 
America , in Europe the same is claimed for the male parr and the female grilse." 




A Dark-Colored Sea-Trout. 



68 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"They do not pass the interval in the estuaries and 
bays, for I have made special inquiry, and could never 
learn of one having been taken in any of the numerous 
smelt nets during the winter ; nor have I ever heard of 
one being picked up dead along the seashore. They seem 
to retire to deep water, probably far from the coast. 
When they are about three and a half pounds in weight 
they return to the rivers, and they are then universally 
known as grilse. As you know, they are long, slender 
fellows, as bright as silver and very active." 

"Did you ever see a female grilse, sir?" asked Hiram. 

"No," replied Frere, "the most curious thing is they 
are all male fish. Thousands have been taken in our 
rivers, but there is no record of a female." 

"So I have heard," said I. "It is very singular. 
How do you account for it?" 

"I cannot," replied PVere, "the males probably mature 
earlier than the females, for they all contain sperm, and 
so do the smolt for that matter." 

"But where are the females of the same age?" 

"Ah, now you have me, I don't know ; but little is 
understood of their habits. They are probably in the 
sea, but why herring, bass and mackerel nets fail to take 
one now and then, passes my comprehension, considering 
the size, depth and abundance of these seines." 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 69 

"Grilse give capital sport." 

"Yes, the little fellows take the tly readily, and for 
eight or ten minutes are very lively, leaping clear of the 
water several times in rapid succession, and making long, 
stronof runs." 

"When, in )-our experience, do the salmon take the 
fly best, Frere?" asked I. "You have had good chances 
for observation, for you have fished in most of the rivers 
in this Province." 

"Generally when they first enter the river, or reach 
the pools ; after remaining a few weeks in fresh water, 
they get, as you know, sluggish and shy. They are, how- 
ever, very capricious, and it is difficult to lay down any 
general rule." 

"I have fished with a good many anglers," said I, 
"and have noticed that there is a good deal of differ- 
ence in the way they drag the fly. Have you ever seen 
them skip the lure lightly on the surface, as if fishino- 
for trout ? I have seen it done in some of the Nova 
Scotia rivers, and successfully. 

"Some fish thus, and on a few streams I understand 
it is the most killing way; but the majority allow their 
flies to sink a little, and draw them by a series of short, 
sharp pulls. The longer the fish are in the fresh water 
the more timid they become, and you will often see them 



70 PVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

following- )'oiir il)- from mere curiosity. In such cases, if 
the lure is drawn rapidl)', as if it were acting of its own 
volition in endeavoring- to escape from the fish, the sal- 
mon will frequently make a dash at it and hook itself." 

"Every angler has his favorite flies," said I, after a 
short pause, "which do you prefer?" 

"A good deal, as you know, depends on the river 
and season, and the condition of the water," replied Frere. 
I depend a good deal on the standards, such as the 
butcher, Durham ranger, Nickerson, Jock Scott, fairy, etc., 
but they should, late in the season, be of smaller sizes 
than in the early fishing. I have known of excellent 
sport being had with a tiny Jock Scott, when a large 
fly failed to get a rise. I was once on the Jacquet 
River [N. B.J with my friend F. M. McLeod. We were 
fishing Franker's [Francois] Pool about the first of Aug- 
ust. We had killed some fine fish in the evenine, but 
on the next morning not the least attention was paid to 
our flies, though fish were rising all over the pool, ap- 
parently after small insects which we observed floating on 
the surface of the water. 

"Somewhat disgusted, I betook myself to fly-tying 
after breakfast, while Mac, who is a most persistent ang- 
ler, continued to whip away. In about an hour he came 
to the tent and said, 'Cox, it beats all! They are rising 



72 PVitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

all around mc, flirting- their tails, and showintr their con- 
tempt for my efforts!' 

" 'Are the little flies still on the water?' I asked. 

"'Oh, yes, they are,' he replied, 'don't you think 
you could make a fly resembling" them?' 

" ' It would be too small, I fear, to kill with, even 
if a hsh should take it; but look here, Mac,' said I, 
opening the liy-book in which were some tiny English 
midges, 'are they like any of these?' 

"'Here it is,' replied Mac, selecting a specimen not 
as large as a house fly, ' I'll take down their impudence 
with this,' and away he went, while I resumed my work. 
In a few minutes I heard him shout, and hastily run- 
ning to the pool, I saw a salmon spring into the air, 
and heard Mac shout, 'I've got him!' 

'"With what fly, Mac?' 

"'With the midge,' he answered, 'at my first cast' 

"Whir-r-r, went the reel, as the fish dashed toward 
the head of the pool. How could that tiny hook stand 
such a strain? Up went the salmon again into the air, 
his bright sides glistening like silver in the morning sun. 
How delighted was Mac upon reeling in to find him still 
fast. Could he land that fish with such delicate tackle, 
he would perform a feat unparalleled in the annals of 
anelinp'- 



WitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 73 

"Whir-r-r, went the reel again, as the lish broke across 
the current for the rocks on the other side, putting a 
heavy strain on the Hne, and just as it was the greatest, 
the salmon flung himself out of the water. Again Mac 
reeled in, but, alas! the fine hook gut had parted." 

-Salmon soon get acquainted with common flies," 
said I, "and when the pool is whipped often, wifl fafl 

to respond." 

•'Yes," replied Frere, "it is the experience of all fish- 
ermen. Let me give you an instance. I was almost out 
of patience one morning at Blue Stone. I had been 
casting for over an hour, without getting a rise, though 
there'^were many fish in the pool. Big Peter, my Mic- 
mac guide, said that if he had a crow wing he could 
make\ fly they'd take. 'See,' he exclaimed, with much 
emphasis, 'all white men usum flies all same, salmon 
knowum. New kind he no seeum 'fore, him come look- 
urn over.' 

"I was ready for any change, and as I invariably 
carry my fly-making materials along, and had a few black 
feathers, I was soon shaping an unsightly monster. At 
the end of half an hour he was ready, and no sooner 
did I cast my nigger adrift than there was a great de- 
sire manifested by the hitherto careless fish to inspect 
the odd stranger at close quarters; finally, one, making 



74 IVith Fly- Rod and Canicni. 

a little too free, was seized by the single tooth of the 
'darky,' and the grip was maintained until the fish was 
brought to gaff. Five successive salmon were hooked 
and landed by that fly before I stopped, and the inval- 
uable hint I had received from a poor Indian has proved 
of great service to me on many occasions since I re- 
ceived it." 

"Ha, ha!" exclaimed Hiram, who had been listening 
attentively, "you beat the salmon that time." 

" Have you ever noticed any peculiarities of habit in 
salmon selecting positions in a pool?" I asked, "they seem 
to be guided by certain preferences, and in certain stages 
of the water lie almost always in particular spots," 

"I can't say I have," replied Frere, "other than that 
you speak of. They are very capricious, but always so- 
ciable ; where one settles all settle. As a general thino- 
they prefer the strong water near the head of the pool, 
especially if there are bottom rocks, forming resting eddies. 
If these rocks are absent, the fish are often found near 
the tail of the basin, hardly ever in the very middle of 
the current, but almost always a little to one side or the 
other. 

"One curious freak of this fish I've observed on many 
occasions which is worth speaking of, for anglers are not 
generally aware of it. When salmon meet with a little 




u 



76 IFith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

fall, the)- will frequently lie for some time in the basin 
before attempting to scale it. If the river is small, they 
are almost certain to refuse the fly. After scaling the 
height, the fish for some unexplained reason linger in the 
swift water on the lip, and often have I raised and hooked 
them on the rushing incline, so close, indeed, to the fall, 
that it seemed a mystery how they maintained their posi- 
tion. Here again the social instinct may be the cause, 
one or more lingering until joined by others." 

"It is quite generally believed that salmon never eat 
anything in fresh water; what is your opinion?" 

" I have never found any food in salmon taken with 
the fly," replied Frere. 

"Why, then, do they rise for it.?" 

" I cannot tell. The idea of many is that they are 
affected in some strange way by colors, just as we know 
certain birds and quadrupeds are." 

*' My idea is that they chase the fly mostly in sport," 
said I. " I don't believe that generally they seize it for 
food, although I believe that in the lower pools of rivers, 
the fish just from the salt water in which they fed eagerl)- 
upon shrimp and other crustaceans, will feed upon min- 
nows ; and in fact I have heard of cases of the fish having 
been taken with shrimp, even in pools well up the river, 
and a fly tied to resemble a shrimp is very killing." 



78 IVith Fly- Rod and Cam era. 

" Black salmon or kelts, those lish that after spawn- 
ing- remain all winter in the river instead of returning 
to the sea, will take any bait in the spring," said Frere. 
" They are lean and lank, and the flesh is quite unfit 
lor food, as it is soft, brittle, entirely devoid of the pink- 
ish color, and when cooked the smell is often repulsive. 
These fish are as hungry as spring bears, and voracious 
as vultures ; they snap eagerly at anything, from a trout 
liy to a pork rind, and feed freely on the spring smelt, 
which are ascending the rivers to spawn, but I do not 
believe that salmon ordinarily, those which have left the 
sea, and ascended to the river to spawn, feed while in 
the fresh water." 

"I've been told by fishermen on the coast that the 
saumon eat small fish when In the salt water," said Hiram. 

"I have no doubt they do," replied Frere. "Messrs. 

Hogan and Wyse, Dominion Fishery Overseers on the 

MiramlchI, have Informed me of capelln and sometimes 

smelt belnsf found In their stomachs when first enterlnpf 
<-> & 

the bay. I think they must be voracious feeders while 
in the sea, and until the instinct seizes them to ascend 
the rivers to spawn ; after that, like bears In hibernation, 
they subsist upon their own fat." 

"Yes," I replied, "they must be great feeders, for 
they increase In size and weight wonderfully In a very 




The Dikfkrkxcf. Beiwkf.x a Fkesh-Run Salmon and a "Sunk" or ' Kelt." 



8o WitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

short period, for instance : A kelt weighing ten pounds 
was marked, and returned to the river, in the lower part 
of which it was again caught after a lapse of five weeks 
and two days, and it was found to weigh over twenty 
pounds. But, Frere, it's growing late, and I propose that 
the tent be smudged out, and that we turn in." 

"Agreed," replied my friend, and in a very short 
time we were lost in slumber, which comes so easily and 
so sweetly to the tired fisherman. 



CHAPTER II. 



An Early Cast. - Silver Doctors. • Cover the Water Thor(jughly. • A 
Big Sea Trout. ■ Lively Times. ■ How to Cook a Trout. • An 
Admirable Cast. • Another SALMO>r Hooked and Lost. • "Fly P'ison" 
IN Demand. • Black Flies on the Magallowav. ■ A Rough Experi- 
ence. • Playing a Drift Tree Top. • Two Fish Hooked and Both 
Saved. • A Great Struggle. • The Cup that Cheeks. • ^YE Ascend 
to the Fifth Pool. • Queer Characters who Go a-Fishing. • A Max 
WHO Wanted the Earth. ■ Jealousy. • Lake and Spotted or Brook 
Trout Compared. • Killing a Togue on the Fly. • Schoodic Fishing 
in Old Times. • Picturesque Sea Coast of Maine. • L.vnd-Locked 
Salmon. • Ducks in Abundance. • A Lively Fish. • Hooking a Pair 
OF Land-Locks. ■ Trolling for Salmon. • Pickerel Fishing. • How 
to Make a Bark Camp. • "Fish Killers." • Indian Traditions. • A 
Plenty of Land-Locks Left. 



" I ^HE mellow, flute -like song of the hermit thrush 
-*- awoke me before sunrise on the following morn- 
ing. Nudging my friend to arouse him, I stepped out- 
side the tent. The camp fire had burned out, nothing 
of it remaining but a few black embers. The two guides 
were sound asleep under their blankets, the heavy cover- 
ing being pulled up over their heads completely. 



82 JVith Fly-Rod and CcDiiem. 

Taking- our rods, Frere and I stepped past the sleep- 
ing men on our way to the pool ; they avv^oke instantly, 
however, for your bush sleeper is easily awakened. With 
a big- yawn they arose and began to move about their 
camp duties, the first of which being invariably filling and 
lighting their pipes. 

"What sort of day is it to be?" I asked of Hiram, 
as I prepared my tackle for a cast at the foot of the 
pool, Frere having gone to the head. 

Hiram gave a look at the mist which completely en- 
veloped the forest about us, and then at the drenched 
leaves which trembled slightly in the faint breeze. 

"Oh, it'll be bright enough by and by," he replied, 
"the wind is sou'west, and the webs are plenty." As he 
spoke he pointed to the gossamer webs which had been 
spun on the bushes and brakes and weeds about us. 

It is an almost invariable sio-n, that if eossamer webs 
are abundant in the morning, the day will be fair. 

"Well, Hiram," said I, "here's for luck," and I beean 
casting above the rapids at the foot of the pool. 

"Luck to you!" he replied, and returned to the camp, 
where his axe was soon heard busy in preparing wood for 
the breakfast fire. 

The morning was dark, and the mist hung so heavy 
above the pool, that I could but indistinctly see Frere, 



PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 83 

who was at work at the upper end. For my own fly I 
had my favorite, a silver doctor. It is a fly with which 
I can do better work than with any other, in all waters 
and with all hsh. 

Now silver doctors are to be met with in most varied 
forms. At one time I had upward of four dozen of them 
in my books, that I had gathered here and there, and 
hardly two of them were alike. If the body is silver 
tinsel, it matters but little, in the opinion of many t3^ers, 
how the rest of the fly is made, and the result is that 
when one speaks of this fly he conveys but a vague 
meaning. I have silver doctors with whole wino-s and 
with made wings; with all kinds of hackles and with 
none at all, and with tails and without. 

My favorite style is made with pure silver tinsel body 
— no other is worth using. The tail consists of two 
or three webs of a widgeon's or teal's mottled feather, 
together with the same number of webs of the ruff of 
the golden pheasant. I like a small hackle on a silver 
doctor, and if I were to have a dozen tied, should have 
three each with gray, brown, yellow and black hackles. 
Not heavy, but nice neat hackles. 

Doubtless some one will say, "Ah, but that's not my 
idea of a silver doctor at all." "All right," I reply, "it's 
mine; I want a small hackle on it." 



84 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera, 

Now for wings. I don't like whole wings, that is, 
wings made of whole feathers, but prefer made ones, 
those which are made of varied fibers selected from many 
feathers, among them always a few shreds of the mottled 
feather of the widgeon or teal, two good feathers from 
the ruff of the golden pheasant, and over all, two or three 
good sprays from the crest of the same bird. 

Above all, I want the fly tied so hard and firmly 
that I cannot move it at all on the hook. If it is loosely 
tied, it soon becomes worthless, in fact it is unsafe, for 
the hook is likely to pull out with the first fish. I al- 
ways reject a fly that is not stiff, or which is at all mov- 
able on the hook. It is an expensive fly, such as I have 
described, but it is the most killing in existence. The 
silver doctor commonly sold is a cheap affair compared 
with this, but deliver me from such and all other cheap 
flies. I always prefer to have mine "tied to pattern," 
and do not accept any which will not stand a rigid scru- 
tiny. 

I began casting with a short line, my invariable habit, 
and worked further and further out into the pool with 
every few casts. I believe in covering thoroughly every 
foot of water as I go. Your salmon does not always 
lie away off in the pool, and it is much better to strike 
your fish on a short line than a long one, particularly if 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 85 

you are lifting for a back cast. A single instance will 
illustrate this. I had been fishing the upper end of a 
pool, and had worked down to nearly the foot; I had 
a long line out, so as to reach the further shore, and 
had carelessly allowed it for a moment to swing in the 
eddy. As I lifted for another cast, I noticed that my 
fly was hardly ten feet from me. When I gave the lift 
the fly swung in, and at that instant a salmon, that had 
been lying beside a boulder almost at my feet, rose and 
took the lure. 

Of course the tip of my rod went to "smithereens" 
on the instant, and the salmon "hooked off." Yes, I 
always cover the water thoroughly as I go, and do not 
lengthen my line until I have had my fly all over the 
surface in my reach. 

Frere was busy at his end of the pool, but saving 
a few trout which he shook off his fly without disturbing 
the water, he had got no rises. 

I also got a few trout up, but did not hook them, 
for we were after salmon, and the flouncine of a few 
trout on the surface of the water is sufficient, generally, 
to keep salmon from rising. 

It is quite a "knack," that the salmon fisherman ac- 
quires, to shake off a trout that has seized his fly, without 
"stirring up the water," as the expression goes, but it is 



86 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

a necessary accomplishment. Occasionally one will hook 
the trout so firmly that it must be landed, and then the 
better way is to waste no time but to drag it as expe- 
ditiously as possible bodily through the water, and up on 
the beach. The pool is thus disturbed but little, for the 
fish is landed before it has a chance to flounce about. 

I had been casting for fully ten minutes, during which 
I had successfully shaken off two or three small sea trout, 
and was just on the point of casting over to an eddy 
across the pool, below a huge boulder that rose from 
the depths, when a large sea trout took my fly, and with 
a splash and a plunge, down he went to the bottom, and 
into the eddy that I had been essaying to reach. 

Away spun the line, my reel shrieking to me discord- 
antly just then, my rod bending in a circle with my ef- 
forts to keep the trout from disturbing the salmon. 

But in vain ! A large sea trout is a very strong 
fish and active withal, and I could not check mine even 
with the full strain of my rod. Suddenly, from the depths 
of the pool where the trout was darting about, out sprang 
a salmon, a goodly fish, leaping several feet into the air, 
and falling back with a tremendous splash. 

Another near by also sprang out, and the guides who 
had joined me, and who supposed that the leaping fish 
was fast to my hook, exclaimed : 



88 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

" He's a lively fish, sure ! Mind, Doctor, or you'll 
lose him." 

Frere, who also came to my side, said, "You are 
o-ivine him too much strain." 

"Giving the Old Harry too much strain," I exclaimed, 
"I've only got a pesky trout on." 

"Oh! that's no trout,'' said Hiram, flourishing the 
gaff, "sure we saw him twiste | twice], 'twas a saumon 
and a good one, too." 

"Yes, but he is not hooked, confound him," I re- 
plied, reeling in the trout that was now about tired out. 

"There he goes again!" shouted William, but this 
time they plainly saw that the salmon was leaping in 
fright, and not with my tiy in his mouth. 

The truth was that the trout in swimming about, 
had run the casting line against two or three of the 
salmon, which, doubtless fearing a net, or some other of 
man's snares, leaped to avoid them. A salmon is as sus- 
picious and as shy as a crow, and the least disturbance 
or noise or molestation will put it on the ^zcz vive. 

It is not at all uncommon for the casting line to strike 
a fish in the pool, when it is fast to another, and I have 
more than once had my hooked salmon send several into 
the air by rubbing the line against them. 

We landed the trout, and killed it. It was only of 



JVith Fly-Rod and Camera, 89 

about three pounds weight, but it was very strong for its 
size. 

Of course after such a disturbance we concluded that 
we had better rest the pool a while, and as breakfast was 
soon to be ready, we laid aside our rods, and, after a 
wash, repaired to the camp, at which the guides were 
busy preparing our morning meal. And such a royal 
breakfast as it was ! and such appetites as we had when 
we sat down to it ! Boiled sea trout, fried grilse, boiled 
potatoes, pilot bread and butter ; listen, fried onions, and 
coffee with condensed milk. 

Boiled sea trout is, gastronomically, in my estimation, 
the most delicate of all fish. Nothing can compare with 
its delicacy, yet richness, of flavor. It should be cooked 
and eaten as soon as possible after it is killed, for it soon 
deteriorates and becomes insipid. 

No other way of cooking than boiling brings the sea 
trout to the epicure in all its excellence, and in fact this 
is true of most fish. 

A fried sea trout is not nearly as acceptable, and I 
do not fancy one broiled, although broiling is better than 
frying. Next in my opinion to the sea trout comes the 
grilse, and that is also better boiled than fried. 

Never shall I forget the exquisite enjoyment with 
which one of these fish was eaten on a certain occasion. 



go With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

We had been in the canoe four or five hours in a 
chilly drizzle of a rain, through which we saw the sun 
only for a few minutes during the entire day. 

We were descending one of the Canadian rivers, our 
party consisting of one of my friends, myself, and our 
two guides or canoemen, all in one large canoe. 

Tired we were and hungry, for we had been running 
rapids and fishing the glorious pools t|iat lay between 
them all the time, and such work gets up a wonderful 
appetite. At last the '' arret-la' was spoken, and we 
came to a landing place. Hauling the canoe upon the 
pebbly shore, our men soon had a fire started and the 
tea kettle steaming. 

Taking from the canoe a grilse weighing about four 
pounds, and cutting up the rich blood-red meat, they 
cooked it in the frying pan, using but very little fat, 
that contained in the tissues of the fish being sufficient. 

The fresh-caught fish thus cooked was of delicious 
sweetness, and the meat was firm, nutty, and with just 
the rieht decrree of richness. Yes, that was a fish ever 
to be remembered ; it was eaten with exactly the right 
sauce, and under the right circumstances. Many a time 
have I eaten my fresh -caught salmon or trout by the 
camp fire in the woods, but it seems to me that none 
other ever tasted like that particular grilse. 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 9^ 

Hiram, as an accompaniment to my fish, gave me 
two boiled potatoes, and such potatoes! Early Rose they 
were, which had been grown on newly cleared land, called 
"burned land," because it had been lately burned over. 
Unless one has eaten such potatoes, he knows nothing of 
what constitutes a good one. Mealy it is to the extent 
of almost faUing apart in a powder when its "jacket" is 
removed, and so sweet and delicate! No other potato 
can compare with the "burned land" potato. 

After disposing of our substantial and abundant break- 
fast, a smoke was of course the first thing to be attended 
to. Ah! what a comfort one takes with his pipe or cigar 
after a hearty meal in the woods! Could anything be 
accepted as a substitute for it? Could anything replace 
it? I doubt it. 

Very soon Frere was busying himself in overhauling 
his fly-book, and arranging his flies, taking such comfort 
out of the operation as only your enthusiastic angler can 
find. At length he arose from his recumbent position, 
exclaimino-, "Well, Doctor, this is not business," and tak- 
ing his rod he proceeded to the pool, where I soon joined 

him. 

The mists that had hung low above the river had 
been dispelled, and the sun was shining brightly through 
the patches of blue which showed now and then through 



92 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

the golden and roseate clouds which were drifting away 
to the east. 

A light' breeze was moving, just strong enough to 
ripple the surface of the pool to that degree which one 
so much desires, and the indications were gfood for a sat- 
isfactory day's sport. 

Frere began casting about midway from the head of 
the pool, and getting out a long line was soon reaching 
well over to the further shore. 

I took a seat upon an old log on the crest of the 
beach and watched my friend at his work ; for next to 
casting the fly myself, I love to see another engaged in 
the fascinating recreation. 

How gracefully, and with what a true and even sweep 
the line rolled along on the surface of the water, uncoiling 
itself, as it were, with an uniform motion, the casting line 
or leader taking up the same sweep, until the fiy dropped 
upon the water as lightly as would the living insect. 

It is a great acquirement to cast the fly as Frere 
did, and I have seen but few who attained to equal pro- 
ficiency. I have fished with scores of different anglers 
in my time, and after watching their work, varied as it 
has*' been, I have come to the conclusion that adepts at 
fly-casting with the two-handed rod are "few and far be- 
tween. " 



94 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

There is an indescribable motion of the rod, which 
is made in the forward stroke or delivery, that acts upon 
the line in such a way that it seems to be but a con- 
tinuation of the rod itself, and the same bends and curve 
of the rod are followed by the whole length of the line, 
which, as it falls upon the water, seems to unroll itself 
its whole length, permitting the fly to drop softly and 
noiselessly. 

In a number of casts I can oret this motion a few 
times, but I am not always certain of it, and my ex- 
perience extends over thirty years. 

I can cret out and handle as Qrood a lenoth of line 
as the average, and can drop a fairly neat fly, but des- 
pair of being an expert in making what I call a rolling 
cast.* A very great deal depends upon the exact balance 
of the rod and line. 

In every book on fishing that I have read, and I 
have quite a number of them in my library, are given 
instructions, more or less elaborate, in casting ; but I have 
never read any yet that supplied information which would 
enable a novice to become even a passable fisherman. 

Practice, much practice, is a requisite, but no practice 
in my opinion can compare with that which one has on 
the pool where he knows the fish are lying 

* The 'Spey'' of writers. 



IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 95 

Some writers recommend practicing on the lawn, but 
this is of very little value except in familiarizing one with 
the action of his rod. 

To lay out a line neatly and smoothly on the water 
and recover it in good style is one thing; it is quite 
another to do it on a grass plat. 

Frere continued at his work, covering all the water 
as he moved toward the foot of the pool. 

Gradually he drew nearer and nearer to the eddy on 
the other side; that from which the salmon had leaped 
when my sea trout created such a commotion. 

At length his fly dropped in a curl of the water near 
a rock that showed faintly beneath the surface ; motion- 
less it remained an instant, then sinking an inch or two 
was just on the point of receiving the first motion or drag 
from the rod, when a swirl, a faint splash, and then the 
scream of the reel announced that a salmon had been 
hooked. 

Scarcely had the fish felt the barb when, with the 
speed almost of lightning, he darted to the head of the 
pool, and then back in an instant to the deep water in 
the middle, thus securing a dangerous bight in the line, 
which only the greatest activity at the reel could over- 
come in time, and Frere but just succeeded in getting 
his line straightened, before the salmon repeated his per- 



96 With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

formance, this time his run being- broken by three leaps 
in quick succession, all of them being at least three feet 
in the air. 

He then returned to his former position, and Frere 
began giving him the strain of the rod, for the runs in 
quick succession and the leaps had sobered the fish, and 
if the fight were now forced, it was evident it would be 
a short one. The tactics which the salmon now adopted 
were such as every one who has been "fast" to one of 
these noble fish is acquainted with. 

Now he was apparently standing on his head in the 
water, evidently rubbing his nose on the rocks on the 
bottom of the pool, to free himself from the barbed steel. 
Finding this unavailing, he would shake his head savagely 
like a terrier worrying a rat. This also proving inejffectual, 
he would endeavor to wind the castino^ line about one of 
the rocks in the water, by which a purchase could be ob- 
tained, so that the hook could be twisted from its hold. 
All in vain, however, Frere kept his steady strain on the 
rod, keenly watching every movement of the fish, and 
meeting, with a sportsman's skill, all its ruses and at- 
tempts to escape. 

At length the tension of the line proved too great 
for the fish, and it began to show unmistakable signs of 
fatigue. 



98 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

Perceiving; this, Frere commenced reeling- in the Hne, 
all the time keeping the strain upon it. 

Suddenly, without any warning, the salmon gave a 
magnificent leap, and then plunging to the bottom, darted 
to the shoal water down to the foot of the pool. 

"Oh, or-ive him the butt, orive him the butt!" we all 
shouted to Frere, but too late, Frere was doing- all that 
the rod could stand, but, passing like a flash down into 
the stream, running out the line in a way that made the 
reel wildly whistle, the fish glided between two rocks in 
the bed of the stream, turned across the shoals, and then 
sped back up the swift water and around another rock, 
thus securing leverage, and he was free. 

"Too bad, too bad!" I exclaimed. Frere made no 
reply but began reeling in his line which the fish had 
carried out to the extent of at least one hundred yards, 

"Confound it all," exclaimed Hiram. "He was a 
wide-awake divil sure ! " 

"Yes, a fresh-run fish," added William, "and full of 
life." 

"Life! any amount, sure," replied Hiram, who, now 
that the fight was over, was quietly filling his pipe and 
preparing for a smoke. 

Did you ever notice that your guide, if a smoker, 
and he almost always is one, invariably lights his pipe 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 99 

when a big- fish is landed or lost? If not, watch him 
when you are next out. I never knew it fail to happen. 

When Frere had reeled in his line so that the leader 
could be reached, I took it in my hand and examined it. 
It had parted at one of the knots, and evidently had 
been carelessly fastened. 

"The knot was a poor one," said Frere, examining 
the gut, "but if it had been perfect it would not have 
held that fish." 

"No, no gut was ever made that would hold him," 
said Hiram. "Nor line neither," assented William, "un- 
less it was a cod line." 

Frere quietly removed the portion of the gut that 
was left, and placing it in his fly-book, selected another 
new leader, and putting it in the water and anchoring 
it with a pebble, left it to soak and become pliable. 
He bore his disappointment and loss philosophically, and 
gave no sign that he felt it even as much as we did. 

The sun was now shining brightly, the fleecy clouds 
having been entirely dispelled. The breeze had also sub- 
sided, and the surface of the pool was as smooth as 
glass, save where the ripples and eddies showed the mov- 
ing current, and flecks or bunches of foam from the rap- 
ids floated down on the water, swam about for awhile, 
and then passed down the river out of siu-ht. 



loo IV it J I Fly- Rod and Cam era. 

Fishing for the present was useless, even if the pool 
had not been disturbed, and throwing ourselves among 
brakes and wild grass in the shade of the trees, we 
nave ourselves and the pool a short rest. 

The black flies and mosquitoes were now putting in 
their best work, and we were obliged to anoint our ex- 
posed skin with our "fly p'ison," as William termed it. 

I have seen various preparations for keeping off the 
insect pests of the northern woods, but of all that I have 
tried I have found none more efficacious than a liberal 
proportion of pure Stockholm tar dissolved in sweet oil, 
one part of tar to two parts of sweet oil, and the flavor 
heightened with a little oil of pennyroyal or peppermint. 
Vaseline, thoroughly incorporated with this, gives it a con- 
sistency and "wear," and is therefore a valuable addition. 
The solution of tar cannot be too strong, but too much 
pennyroyal will cause irritation to the skin and eyes. 

Ah ! what a paradise would be the northern wilder- 
ness in summer if it were not for the voracious insects 
which abound in myriads and annoy us at every turn. 
In some localities they render life almost a burden to 
man and beast, and a favored spot it is, indeed, that is 
free from them. I have seen the black flies in the valley 
of the Magalloway River in Maine, in such numbers that 
the farmers could not work in the fields in the heat of 



I02 With Fly- Rod and Cauiera. 

the day unless they had a "smudge" burning near them 
all the time. Repeatedly have I seen cattle come tearing 
down the hills as if they were mad, and thrust their heads 
into the smoke of the "smudge pot" that was kept always 
burning at every door to drive away their tormentors. I 
have seen the window panes of a school house in a back 
settlement so covered with these insects that they ap- 
peared almost solid black. 

Never shall I forget an experience that I had in the 
summer of i860 on the upper waters of the Magalloway. 
It was a wild country then, and one would not meet a 
hunter or fisherman for weeks at a stretch. Now it is 
quite different, and fishermen are numerous, and on an 
island in Lake Parmachene there is a comfortable house 
for their accommodation kept by the popular guide John 
Danforth. On the occasion I refer to, I had with me 
as canoeman, a son of dear old Captain Wilson, one of 
the whitest men that God ever created. We were coming 
down the river on our return from a trip to its head 
waters, and had just reached "the Meadows," so-called, 
when young Wilson was taken ill. He seemed in great 
pain, almost as if dying, and was of course quite help- 
less. What his sickness was I could not understand, but 
I did the best I could for him. I laid him in the bot- 
tom of the boat on the blankets, and gave him a dose 



^ With Fly- Rod and Camera. 103 

of Jamaica ginger, which I happened to have among my 
stores. I felt sure it could not hurt him anyway, and 
it did in a short time give him relief, for he soon fell 
asleep. But the black tiies ! Like a dense cloud they 
settled upon us, and I was literally streaming with blood. 
Wilson I had covered with the blanket, and his face was 
protected by his hat, with a handkerchief thrown over it. 
But I, while I was tending him, was completely at the 
mercy of the little pests, and no mercy did they show. 
Not a breath was stirring, and the weather was very 
warm ; the perspiration streamed at every pore, and con- 
sequently tar ointment would not adhere to my skin. It 
would have been useless, anywa}", against such hordes as 
pounced upon me. 

. It took but a short time to convince me that unless 
I had a smudge in the canoe the situation would be crit- 
ical, for I had heard of cases of terrible poisoning from 
black flies, which were followed by insanity and helpless- 
ness. Seizing the fr3-ing pan and iron pot, I started a 
fire in each, and when it was fairly burning, I covered 
it with damp moss, leaves and turf. I placed one in the 
bow close to Wilson, and the other at my feet, and began 
my long paddle of, I think, over thirty miles down to 
Aziscohos Falls. 

The river was low, and once or twice I was obliged 



I04 WitJi Fly- Rod and CcDiiera. 

to get out of the boat and haul it over bars and windfalls, 
at which times I was at the mercy of my tormentors. 

The load was also heavy for a single paddle, and 
tired enouo'h I was at nitrhtfall when I landed at an old 

o o 

logging camp on the river side, and got my patient out 
of the boat and into the camp. However, I started up 
a bity smudge, for althoutrh the iiies had finished their 
work for the day, the mosquitoes began to show up in 
clouds. 

I then built a fire and got supper. I contented my- 
self with hard tack, fried bacon and tea. For Wilson I 
made a dish of fiour porridge ; and through the evening 
I laid cloths steeped in hot water across his abdomen, 
changing them as fast as they cooled off to the temper- 
ature of the body. 

This treatment seemed to do him good, and glad and 
thankful enough I was to see the poor chap coming around, 
for it was a pretty serious matter for me to have a sick 
man on my hands alone in the wilderness, particularly as 
I did not know what ailed him, and what the best treat- 
ment would be. 

At length I smudged out the camp and turned in, 
leavintr a bio; smoke o^ointr outside. 

On the followintr mornins^ Wilson was so far recov- 
ered that he could move about without my assistance, and 



io6 IVith Fly- Rod and Cajiicm. 

we got an early start on the river, he, however, still too 
weak to paddle. The flies, however, soon put in an ap- 
pearance, and I was obliged to kindle my smudges again. 
I sped the boat as rapidly as I could, but it was noon 
when I heard the oh, how welcome roar of the falls, and 
knew that the end of my journey on the river was at 
hand. 

Wilson, though still feeble, was now able to walk the 
carry (portage) around the falls with me, although we had 
to travel slowly; and it was late in the night when we 
reached his home at Wilson's Mills, and I was relieved 
of my responsibility and anxiety. 

We were both so badly poisoned by the virus from 
the insects that we were in high fever for a day or two, 
but STOod nursinof brouo-ht us out all rieht. 

My hands were in a terrible state, for, in addition to 
the soreness from the bites of the flies, they were badly 
blistered by the hard bout I had had with the paddle. 
Yes, that was an experience with black flies never to 
be forgotten. The region about the Magalloway is one 
of the favorite haunts of this pestiferous insect, and I do 
not remember ever seeing it in any other section in any- 
thing like the abundance in which it exists there. In old 
times we used to think that the Schoodic Lake country, 
particularly about Grand Lake Stream, was bad on account 



PVitli Fly- Rod and Caine/a. 107 

of these diabolical insects -and I have seen them so thick 
on the Miramichi that the air was black with theni: — but 
I have never anywhere seen anything like the prodigal 
plenty in which they are found on the Magalloway. 

" Pass me the p'ison, please," exclaimed William, after 
Frere and I had anointed ourselves, " the flies are very 
cross* to-day." 

I handed the tar to. him, and he with his brother 
rubbed in a trood coating ; both of them had been well 
punctured, the insects having crawled into their hair and 
beards and left their scars freely. 

Anointintr beintr over we settled down for comfort. 

" 'Tis a pretty pool, entirely," said Hiram, who was 
carelessly tying various knots on a piece of string. 

" It is that," assented \\' illiam. 

" I wish I had a dollar for every tish that was ever 
taken from it." 

"You'd need a team to carry them if they were our 
American silver dollars," I added. 

"Yes, and a double team at that," said Frere. 

"Yes, 'tis a great pool, altogether," answered Hiram, 
unconsciously repeating his first statement. 

"And one of the best to kill a fish in on the river. "f 

* Hungry or savage. 

f These dialogues are literally as jotted down li\' nic on \arious occasions. — 
E. A. S. 



io8 WitJi. Fly- Rod and Camcm. 

"True," replied Frere. laughingly, "if you can keep 
him away from the rocks." 

"Oh, there's no trouble''" at all," replied William, dep- 
recatingly, "you'll never have one run down there again. 
This was the first time I ever saw one, and many's the 
fish I've seen killed here." 

"No, they never run there like that," said Hiram, 
"but you want to mind the head of the pool too, there's 
an old drift tree there," pointing to a spot just below 
the upper rapids, "and if you get 'hung up there,' good- 
by Mr. Salmon." 

"Is there really any drift stuff there?" I asked, "if 
so now is the time to get it out. I don't want to lose 
any fish on it." 

"All right," replied the guide. "Come, William, with 
the gaff, and we'll clear it out." 

The two brothers proceeded to the beach, above the 
rapids where the canoe was hauled up, and shoving it 
out into the stream and embarking, they moved slowly 
down to the place that had been designated. 

V/illiam held the canoe steadily in place while Hiram 
beean reaching with the i^aff down into the water for the 

o o o 

drift wood, 

"By Jove," I exclaimed, "there's more water there 

* Difficulty. 



iio With Fly- Rod and Cainera. 

than I dreamed of ; see ! he has the whole length of the 
gaff under water, and his arms up to the elbows." 

"Yes," replied P>ere, "there is a sharp pitch there, 
and quite a deep hole." 

In a short time Hiram shouted to William to "push 
in," and the canoe, impelled by the setting pole, soon 
touched the beach, Hiram dragging with the gaff what 
proved to be a large limb of a tree with the branches 
and twigs on, just as it had floated down the stream 
and sunk months before. 

"That's a dangerous snag out of the way, at all 
events," said Frere. "What have you found, Hiram.?" 
he exclaimed, as the guide, after hauling the limb up on 
the beach, proceeded to detach something that was evi- 
dently fastened to it. 

" 'Tis a bit of net that got torn on it," answered 
the guide, "that snag has done one good job anyway." 

" Hallo, here is the rest of your cast, sir," exclaimed 
William, unwinding something that was also entangled in 
the twigrs. 

"What?" ejaculated Frere, "my casting line? Im- 
possible." 

"It is, sure enough, and the fly, too, all but the 
barb of the hook, that's gone." 

It proved to be as they had stated ; the salmon. 



112 l^Vitli Fly- Rod and Camera. 

after parting the casting line, had purposely entangled it 
afterward in the drift stuff and, breaking the hook, had 
freed itself of its unwelcome incumbrance. 

" 'Twas a crafty lad, altogether," said Hiram, hand- 
ing the line to Frere, "how well he knew the way to 
get rid of it!" 

"Yes," replied Frere, "I knew he would not carry 
it around long." 

"It was a poor length of gut," I exclaimed, as I 
examined it. "See, here is at least six inches of it thin 
and flat." 

"Yes," replied Frere, "I see it was weak there, al- 
though it would have made no difference if it had been 
perfect ; it is almost impossible to obtain good casting 
lines nowadays except at fabulous prices, and even then 
they are likely to have weak places," 

"That is true," said I, as we resumed our seats 
among the brakes, "there is sure to be a weak spot 
somewhere, and I have for years tied my own, and I 
use nothing but the best round gut of even and uniform 
thickness." 

"I believe I will try it myself," replied Frere, "there 
is no great labor required in it, and it is worth some- 
thing to have a cast on that one may feel absolute con- 
fidence in." 



1 1 4 With Fly- Rod mid Camera. 

"Yes," said Hiram, "the best cast is none too good. 
I was once out with a man from Montreal. He had a 
big lot of new casting lines, and they looked all right, 
but they went to pieces on every fish. He lost a big lot 
of saumon that trip, something like a dozen or fifteen, 1 
am sure." 

"He did so," added William, "he had hard luck, not 
a cast in the lot wuth tuppence." 

"Do you mind. Doctor, how we lost the saumon last 
year in the White Rapids Pool on the Jacquet?" asked 
Hiram, addressing me, "Sure he was the wild divil, too." 

"Yes, I shall not forget him for a while," I replied, 
"such a dance as he led us." 

"How was it?" inquired Frere. 

"Oh, it was only one of the cases of 'lost fish' that 
every one knows all about," I replied. " I was running 
down the river with Hiram in the canoe, fishing the pools 
on the way down. When we reached the White Rapids 
Hiram landed me on the shore above the pool, and I 
walked down along the river, casting as I went. When 
I reached the boil immediately below the rapids I got a 
rise, and casting again, was fast to a fine fish. He took 
down into the pool, and, from the way he cavorted around 
there, one would think he had an electric battery in his 
tail. Zip ! he'd dart up and down the pool like an arrow, 



Pf^ith Fly- Rod and Camera. 115 

and 'cree-e-e' the old reel sung out in response to his 
movements." 

"Yes, the lad was in the air more of the time than 
in the water," exclaimed Hiram, "it was jump, jump, jump 
all over the pool; sure he was a wild divil, altogether." 

"Yes," I replied, "he was a lively customer, I never 
had a fish quite so full of energy. At length he ran 
down to the foot of the pool, and criss-crossed over among 
some big boulders there and got the line wound around 
them. I yelled at the top of my lungs to Hiram to wade 
out with the gaff and cast off the line, or the fish would 
part it." 

"Sure, I thought he was gone," said the guide. "I 
saw the line in the rocks and made sure it was broken." 

"No," I continued, "he was still on when Hiram 
went out to him and cast off the line, and whir-r-r, how 
he made the water fly as he darted to the head of the 
pool again. Up and down did he continue to race, some- 
times in the water, as often in the air, and apparently 
as fresh as at the start." 

" No doubt a fresh-run fish," remarked Frere. 

"Ah ! yes, he was a bright one," said Hiram. 

"At length he gave a big leap and then ran to the 
boil again, where he settled to the bottom, and stir him 
I could not. For at least fifteen minutes I tried every 



ii6 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

means that I knew of for starting a sulking salmon, but 
he would not budge. Finally I got impatient and told 
Hiram to take the canoe and stir him up with the set- 
ting pole. 

"'Are you sure he's still on?' Hiram called out. 

"'On, of course he is,' I replied, 'see the line vibrate 
as the rascal shakes his head.' 

" 'Yes, he's trying to shake out the hook,' answered 
the guide, and he immediately started for the canoe, 

"I had a steady strain on the fish all the time, for 
all the rod was worth, and I kept it up while Hiram 
was bringing down the canoe. Now and again I felt a 
spiteful jerk, as if the fish were shaking the line back 
and forth. Anon would come a strong steady tug as if 
he were about to start out ao-ain on his wild racinors, and 
then the dead hard resistance would follow. 

" Hiram soon had the canoe in the pool, and going 
up to the head poked down with the setting pole where 
the salmon was lying, but the fish did not stir. Finally 
the guide took hold of the line and began lifting it care- 
fully with one hand, underrunning it with the gaff. 

"'Sure, the fish is gone!' at last he shouted. 

"'No!' I exclaimed, 'impossible!' 

"'He is gone, altogether,' replied Hiram, 'and you 
are fast to a tree at the bottom of the pool.' 




A Snap Shut at Mic-Macs (Inst.) 



ii8 I With Fly- Rod and Camera: 

"As he said this he put the gaff down into the water, 
and hooking it into a branch of sunken drift wood hke 
that just taken out of this pool, he came ashore at my 
side," 

"Ha, ha," exclaimed Frere, "that's a pretty good joke; 
the idea of playing a piece of drift stuff so long is rich." 

"Yes, it was pretty rough on me, I admit," said I, 
but I'll be blessed if any one could have known it was 
not a salmon. The scamp no doubt freed himself as soon 
as he struck the drift stuff, and the line, fastened to the 
swaying limb, vibrated and pulled according to the strength 
of the water movintj it back and forth. It felt all the time 
like a large strong fish." 

"Tricky divils are salmon," sententiously observed Wil- 
liam. " I never feel sure of one until he is high and dry 
on the shore." 

"Yes, the salmon is a o^ood fig^hter," said Frere, "and 
the uncertainty of bringing him to grass constitutes nine- 
tenths of the fascination there is in fishing for him." 

"One cannot risk a single chance on him," I replied, 
"and It IS often a little thinj^ that bring-s the fisherman 
to grief even with the best of care." 

"Sure enough," said Hiram. " Many's the good fish 
I've seen lost by the best fishermen, and sometimes the 
oldest hands have the hardest luck. But come, gentle- 



With Fly- Rod and Camera . iig 

men, the pool is well rested now, and there is a beauti- 
ful ripple on the water, and see the drift of clouds that 
is coming over." 

Rising from our recumbent positions in the shade at 
his words, we found that a breeze had sprung up, and 
taking our rods we prepared for another trial in the pool. 
The wind was rippling the surface of the water beauti- 
fully, and the chances seemed good for a speedy rise. 
Frere now took a position in the rapids at the head of 
the pool, wading out to a depth of two or three feet, 
while I began casting above the eddy, across the pool. 

This was a fair "turn and turn about" for us. It 
was much easier to cast down the pool from the head, 
but the chance for a salmon was best in the deep water 
near the foot. Frere had had his opportunity, and it was 
my turn now. Lengthening my line at every cast, I soon 
reached the coveted spot, and putting my fly in the curl 
of the water, I rose and hooked a g^rilse. 

"Cre-e-e!" how the reel sang, as the fish darted up 
and down the pool, leaping high in the air, sometimes 
three or four times in succession. 

William seized the landing net, the gaff not being- 
needed for a grilse, and stood ready to land my fish. 

A shout from Frere, who was standing in the rapids, 
attracted our attention, and his bent rod indicated that 



120 With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

he, too, had hooked a large iish, which a leap at that 
instant showed to be a salmon. 

" Don't give the grilse any more time, Doctor," ex- 
claimed William. "We must o^et him in before that sal- 
mon runs down here and crosses }'our line." 

I did not need his counsel to see the urs^ent need 
of such action, and in a very short time the landing net 
passed under the grilse, and he was in the hands of the 
guide. 

Frere was fast to a noble fish, and his heavy rod, 
bent into an arch, showed that he was endeavoring to 
keep him up in the pool, away from the dangerous rocks 
where he had lost the first fish. 

It was a grand fight ! Frere, immediately on strik- 
ing the fish, left his position in the rushing water, and 
took his stand upon the point of the beach near by, thus 
obtaining a perfect command of the entire length of the 
pool. 

The salmon in the first rush took out at least sixty 
yards of line without stopping ; then, with a mighty leap, 
sprang into the air, his red eyes gleaming like rubies in 
their silver casing. Like a rock he struck the water, 
throwing it up with a heavy splash in all directions. As 
the fish fell, Frere relinquished his heavy strain upon the 
rod, dropping the tip a foot or two, in order that the 



122 JVith Fly- Rod and Caiiicm. 

salmon might not free himself by falling upon a taut 
casting line. 

It was only for an instant, however, that the line 
was slackened, and the fish had hardly returned to his 
native element when the drag of the rod was again put 
upon him. Again and again the salmon leaped high in 
air four times in rapid succession ; but Frere met his 
every effort with the consummate skill of the perfect 
angler. 

For at least a quarter of an hour did the salmon 
course up and down the pool, now keeping it in a boil 
with his gyrations, now swimming deep, and apparently 
trying to chafe the line against the rocks at the bottom ; 
then darting with the speed of lightning to another part 
of the basin, where he repeated his maneuvers. 

Fortunately he did not endeavor to reach the rapids 
below as the other fish had done, but contented himself 
with the deep water in the middle of the pool. 

At length it was evident that the steady strain of 
the rod was telling upon the fish. His leaps grew less 
frequent, and his rushes less spiteful. He began swim- 
ming in circles, and once or twice almost turned on his 
side. 

"He's done for," shouted William, who, gaff in hand, 
was following the fish back and forth along the beach. 



PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 123 

"Don't be too sure, sir," said Hiram, who had been 
watching the contest with the keenest interest. " ^lany's 
the sahiion lost when he keels over on his side." 

And Hiram was right; it is often one of the most 
critical moments when the salmon turns on his side. The 
fisherman, perhaps in the certainty of his prize, uncon- 
sciously relaxes his lift upon the rod ; or the fish secures 
an unexpected buoyancy, anci thus attains an unlooked 
for leverage ; or the hook, in his new position, twists out 
of its fastening, which had been worn wider and wider 
b}' the struggles of the fish ; either or all of these com- 
bined have time and again in my observation turned the 
exultation of the fisherman to bitter disappointment and 
chagrin, as the salmon, with no apparent effort, sank back 
into the water, and the fly "came home." 

In Frere, however, the salmon found his conqueror. 
With superb skill he met every effort of the fish to es- 
cape ; relaxing not a moment his command of the rod, 
he kept the same stead}' strain upon the line; reeling 
in when the fish yielded a foot, and holding all he gained 
throughout the struggle. 

The salmon, in turnmg the third time upon his side, 
gave Frere the opportunity he had desired ; without at- 
tempting to use the reel, he stepped back quickh' away 
from the pool, the "lift" of the rod dragging the fish 



124 IVitJi Fly- Rod and Cauiera. 

at the same time toward the shore. In a llash the (""aff 
was in the glittering prize, and the fish was borne up 
high on the beach, away from the dangerous proximity 
of the water. 

"Indeed, but he was well hooked," exclaimed Hiram, 
as he opened the mouth of the salmon to remove the fly. 

"Sure he was so," assented William, as he endeav- 
ored to take out the fly. "The hook is clean through 
the roof of his mouth." 

So securely was the hook fastened that it was found 
necessary to cut it out, the tough skin of the palate hold- 
ing it with the greatest tenacity. 

"Shake, old chap," I said, grasping Frere's hand, as 
I concrratulated him on his first salmon of the season. 

Next to killing a good fish myself, I love to see a 
friend take one, and I can honestly asseverate that I have, 
time and again, had more pleasure in helping a comrade 
to a royal fish, than I should have had if it had fallen 
to my own rod. It is only a "fish hog" who wants it 
all himself. 

It was now high noon, and the guides began prepar- 
ations for dinner, and before long an abundant meal was 
spread out upon our rustic table. And such appetites as 
v/e had, as we helped ourselves liberally to the delicious 
viands ! The active life, the bracing mountain air, the 



126 WitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

excitement altogether, had stirred our blood in such a 
way that we were absolutely hungry, a condition that the 
city dweller knows but little of. We had a little more 
variety than at breakfast, the canned soup, etc., lending 
assistance, but I contented myself with a third helping 
of boiled sea trout and potatoes. These are always good 
enough for me in the woods, if they are flanked with 
o-ood bread and butter and a good dipper of tea. 

Why is it that tea has such a relish on such oc- 
casions? Usually I am very abstemious of it, in fact 
hardly ever using it, but in my outings it is quite dif- 
ferent, and coffee, which at home constitutes my regular 
bevera<J-e, loses its relish. And I have noticed time and 
ao-ain that guides and canoemen also prefer tea to coffee, 
and it is astonishing how much they are dependent on 
the cup that "cheers but not inebriates." Indians and 
white guides are the same in this respect, and many a 
time has my canoeman, without a word from me, glanced 
up to the noonday sun, pulled silently ashore, and lighted 
the fire for "b'iling the tea kittle." A pint dipper of 
strong tea with a biscuit or two has, in a hurried journey, 
proved sufficient, if followed by the inevitable pipe ; and 
the paddle or setting pole was resumed with renewed 
vigor. 

"Well, Frere," said I, as we arose from our bounti- 



128 WitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

fill repast, "what shall it be, sta)' here to-nio-ht or move 
on up the river?" 

"It is hard to decide," he replied. "We know there 
are fish here, and don't know there are any above." 

"Oh, plenty above, no trouble," exclaimed the guides 
with one voice, evidently anxious to be moving- ; like all 
guides I have ever met, they were not satisfied to remain 
long in one place. 

"We might, if that is the case," replied Frere, "go 
on as far as the fifth pool, stop there to-night, and then 
move on to the upper pools to-morrow. What do you 
say?" he asked, turning to me. 

"All right," I replied, "we are sure to find sport in 
some of the pools, and even if we don't we have an 
abundance of food." 

"Indeed ye have, and more," exclaimed Hiram, "but 
I thought if we got up the stream to the farms in the 
upper settlement, we could send out to the hotel a lot 
of fish for your folks to eat." 

"Well, boys, break camp," said I, "and we will pack 
and start." 

In a short time all our belongings were packed in 
the canoe, and we were ready to start. 

For quite a distance up the river the water was so 
shoal that all of us had to wade, the canoe barely clear- 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 129 

ino; the rocky bottom, with no other load than our camp 
equipage and stores. After that there were at intervals 
stretches of a third to a half mile where there was water 
sufficient to float us. In fact in many places it was too 
deep to be waded. 

We fished the best pools on the way up, but suc- 
ceeded in getting only a few sea trout, although we saw 
many salmon. The sun was too bright and the water 
too clear for us to expect old Salar to come to the fly 
at that time of day. 

Frere and I took our stands upon the rocks by the 
side of the pool, and cast for at least an hour, but we 
rose only a few trout, and we responded willingly to the 
announcement from William that, "Supper's ready, gentle- 
men." 

With rousing appetites we disposed of the feast 
spread out before us, and then, once more stretched out 
before the camp fire, we burned our incense in comfort 
and contentment with all the world. 

"After all. Doctor." said Frere, "there is no pleasure 
like that the sportsman enjoys." 

"Right you are." I replied, "and no other sportsman 
gets the solid satisfaction that the fisherman does." 

"I believe you are right." he replied, "there is noth- 
ing I enjoy so much as angling." 



130 With Fly- Rod ivid Camera. 

"No, I've tried almost everything, have shot ahiiost 
all kinds of game, and have had my share of yachting 
and hunting, but I find nothing that begins to offer a 
comparison with salmon fishing." 

"No," said Hiram, "it's a king's own sport, alto- 
gether." 

"It is so," said William, who had been busy at dish 
washing, but w^ho had now joined our group at the fire, 
"and it's the thing that proves the nature of a man better 
than anything else I know of." 

"You're right, William," said I. "I want only a few 
hours on the stream with a man to find out exactly what 
he is. If he is a gentleman, bred in the bone, he will 
not fail to show it." 

"And if he is the other thing, he cannot hide it, 
neither," replied William. 

" Many's the quare divil we've been out with, and 
many's the hog we found out among them, hey, Hiram?" 

His brother grunted an assent, but made no other 

reply. 

"Yes, there's nothing like a fishing trip with a man 
to show his true character," said I. 

"I remember an incident that will illustrate this. I, 
was once fishing a river in Nova Scotia with a man whom 
I bad always considered a perfect type of a gentleman, but 



^32 PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

inside of three clays he exhibited traits that I would not 
have supposed he possessed. 

"We were stopping at the same hotel, and had the 
river all to ourselves. At the beginning we agreed to 
draw lots for pools, and it being my first choice, I took 
the first pool from the salt water,, he the second, I the 
third, and so on through the whole five miles of fishing 
that we had. 

" I noticed that his countenance seemed to show dis- 
satisfaction when the choices were made, but as nothing 
could possibly be fairer than our arrangem-cnt, I took no 
notice of his discomfort. He had fully as good pools as 
I had, and I could think of no more equitable way of 
dividing them. 

"Well, our first day on the river was one to be re- 
membered. We left the hotel together and walked to 
the river, a mile or so, chatting pleasantly and enjoying 
the delightful morning hugely. But when we reached the 
river, and I began rigging for my first cast in my pool, 
instead of troinor alone to his own, he sat down on a los" 
and beo-an o^rumblino- like a bear with a sore head. 

"'It's just my infernal luck,' he said, 'to have you 
get this pool. I always liked it, and in fact it's a favorite 
with me.' " - 

"That was a good starter," ejaculated Hiram, 



134 JFitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Vcs," I replied. 

" ' Well," I said to him, ' I don't mind, you take my 
pools and I'll take )-ours to-da)', and to-morrow we will 
change.' 

"'No,' replied ni)' friend, 'that will give you the 
fourth pool to-da\'. and as that is the best pool on the 
river, and it has not been fished lately, I am sure of a 
salmon in it.' 

"'Very good.' I answered, 'we'll stick to the original 
programme.' 

" By this time I was rigged and ready to begin cast- 
ino-. Mv friend still sat on his loi^", althoui:''h I suo-o-ested 
he had better take advantage of the early fishing. 

" I began casting, and rose a beautiful fish at the 
third cast. I missed him, and then such a growl as my 
companion uttered would have tried the patience of Job. 

" ' just my infernal luck. Oh ! what a beautiful fish. 
If I had had this pool. Cuss the luck.' etc., etc. 

" I waited a few minutes and then began casting 
again, and soon rose and hooked my salmon. It was a 
bright sil\-ery fish just from the sea. 

"Such a look of absolutelv green jealousy and envy 
as I caught on the face of my friend, I had never seen 
before, and it destroyed all the pleasure I was expecting. 
However, I pla)ed the fish as well as I could, but I felt 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 135 

nervous, for I had never before had such an experience. 
Alas, my casting Hne parted in the middle of one of the 
furious runs of the salmon, and he was free. 

"'Too bad, too bad,' exclaimed my friend, but his 
countenance belied his words, for if ever I saw a face 
lighted up with satisfaction his was. 

"He took his rod and guide and started off for the 
second pool. 

"After repairing damages — the fault was in the cast- 
ing line, a flat place only an inch in length in the gut 
having broken, all the rest of the leader being perfect — 
I cast in the same pool again for a while, but without 
any success. 

"At length I reeled up, and with ni}' guide moved 
along up to the third pool, which was my next one. As 
we passed the second my friend was busy casting, but 
he had had no rises, as his guide informed us. 

"At the third pool at my second cast I hooked and 
killed a grilse, and soon after rose a fine salmon, hooked 
and played him, and my guide was just on the point of 
gaffiing the fish when my friend joined us. 

"He came down the path with a bound, and as we 
killed the salmon he burst out Avith a loud ' I congrat- 
ulate you ; I congratulate you ! ' but he looked ready to 
cry. 



136 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"All this made me so uncomfortable that I said I 
would (gwd him the balance of the river for the day, for 
I had had all the fishing I wanted, and with my guide 
carrying- m)' salmon and grilse, I returned to the hotel." 

"Ha, ha!" shouted Hiram, "that man wanted the 
earth." 

"Well," I continued, "the next day it was the same 
story, and the next. Nothing Avould satisf)' him, and on 
the evening of the third day, I told him that on the 
next morning I was going to another river a few miles 
away, and he would have this stream all to himself, and 
even that did not satisfy him, for his last words when I 
left him on the following day were : 

"'Don't kill all the salmon in the river, for I ex- 
pect to fish it in a few days.' " 

"He was a hoo- clean throuofh," exclaimed Hiram. 

"He was," assented William. 

"Yes, there is nothinof like ^'oinuf fishinof with a man 
to Lfive one a true insitrht into his character," said FVere. 

"Sure," responded Hiram, "and it don't take a guide 
lone to find him out." 

"Right you are, Hiram," said William. 

And the brothers were right; no one can size up a 
fisherman as correctly and quickly as an old guide, and 
I confess 1 always make my first casts with that trepi- 



138 PVith Fly- Rod and Canicm. 

dation when I am out Avith a new man, knowing, as I do, 
that my every movement is scanned with the keenest scru- 
tiny, and ni)- every word weighed in a balance that is 
unerrinLr. 

"What other fish do you find in the Nova Scotia 
waters in addition to the sea trout and sahiion?" asked 
Frere, after a short pause. 

"About the same variety that we find in the New 
Brunswick lakes and streams," I replied, "there are almost 
innumerable lakes in the Interior which are full of the 
spotted trout and other fish. There is capital land- 
locked salmon fishing in some of the lakes, notably Folly 
Lake, thirty miles or so from Halifax, although the people 
there call it grayling fishing; the grayling, however, is 
quite another fish. In many of the rivers there may be 
taken sea trout and the spotted trout, side by side, and 
even with the same cast. I am told that there are huo-e 
lake trout in some of the larger bodies of water, but I 
cannot say wnth certainty as to the truth of this, as I 
have never taken any." 

"What do you mean by lake trout?" inquired Hiram, 
adjusting the logs on the fire, "are they anything but 
overgrown spotted trout ? " 

"Oh, yes," I answered, "they are quite a different 
fish, although we occasionally take spotted or brook trout 



With Fly-Rod and Canienv. I39 

in some of our Maine lakes tliat weigh from ten to twelve 

pounds." 

This statement was received by a look of incredulity 

by the guides. 

"Yes. I have heard of the big trout of the Range- 
ley Lakes," said Frere, and I have long wished for an 
opportunity to have a cast at them.' 

"Do you mean that the)- are the genuine spotted 
trout?" asked William, still apparently incredulous. 

"Certainly," replied Frere, "at least all the scientihc 
men pronounce them to be the Simon-pure brook trout." 
"Well, all I can say is," exclaimed Hiram, "I would 
like to see such a trout; we get them as high as five 
pounds, or perhaps a little more in some of our back 
lakes, but ten or twelve pounds, never." 

"How do they differ from some of the 'lakers' that 
we get in the big lakes in the Province of Quebec, those 
that we call the lunge or tuladi.?" asked William. 

"Oh, they are quite different," I answered, "although 
in some seasons and conditions of the water the two va- 
rieties might be "confounded by an ordinary observer. I 
have noticed lake trout almost as highly colored as the 
others, and specimens of both that could hardly be sep- 
arated. Coloration Is no guide, no sure guide to iden- 
tification, because it Is never constant." 



140 PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"The spotted trout, fontinalis, is always square-tailed, 
Doctor," said Frere. 

" Usuall)', but not alweiys," I replied. "I have seen 
specimens with distinctly forked tails, in localities where 
the 'lakers' are unknown, and have called the attention 
of hshermen to the fact, when I have taken such." 

''But you have never seen a 'laker' with a forked 
tail," added Frere. 

"No," I answered, "I cannot say I have, and that 
characteristic furnishes a constant means of identification 
of that fish." 

"I have heard that the 'lakers' never come to the 
ily," said Frere, "is that true?" 

"Yes," I said, "generally speaking, but they some- 
times do take the fiy, as I have seen on several occa- 
sions, and I have myself twice caught them in this way. 
Both these fish gave very good sport indeed, and one of 
them gave me all I wanted to attend to for over half 
an hour. This was in i860, on Grand Lake Stream. I 
was fishing for land-locked salmon, and at that time there 
was fishing there that zvas fishing. I had cast out across 
the pool just below the old dam, and the eddy or back 
water seized my line, and drew the fly in a sweep right 
across the water below the sluice. I saw a fish rise, 
and, striking, 1 found I had something out of the usual 





A Rangeley Trout. Not Handsome, but it Weighed ii% lbs. 



142 With Fly- Rod and Cainera. 

run. The fish started at once for the deepest part of 
the pool, and there he hung-. My Indian guide, Etienne 
Lewe)-s, after a few minutes, began to get excited. 

"'What kind sahnon you hitched to?' said he. 'He 
no jump, no run, but just lay still.' 

" 1 waded out into the pool up to my waist, but 
could not move the fish. Every now and then I could 
feel his head shake, and the line gave that spasmodic 
quiver which one always feels when a big fish is hooked; 
but I could not move him. I gave every ounce of strain 
that the tackle would stand, and tried all the expedients 
commonly practiced by fishermen. 

"Finding that I could not move the fish, I told the 
guide to get into the canoe and stir up the rascal with 
his setting pole. When the canoe approached the fish I 
could feel that he was growing nervous, and when the 
Indian thrust clown the pole near where he was lying, 
with one dart he left the pool and made for the rapids. 

"If ever a fish pulled, that one did, and if ever one 
worked hard to stop him, I did. The reel spun out the 
line, and like an arrow the fish approached the quick 
water; once in that and no tackle would save him. Sud- 
denly he turned, and making a sweep around the further 
side of the pool, returned to his original position. 

"All this time neither myself nor the Indian had seen 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. HS 

the fish, and we had no idea as to what he was. Reel- 
ing in the hne again, I gave him all the strain I could, 
but he was too strong for me. I told Leweys to stir 
him up again, and the same performance was repeated 
as at first. Evidently the fish was disinclined to go down 
the rapids, and that being the case, if we kept him mov- 
ing in the pool we knew we could in time exhaust him. 
My wrist and arm began to tire, and the Indian wanted 
to take the rod, but I had no notion to let him land 
my fish. 

"To make a short story of it, for a half hour we 
kept that fish on the move. Sometimes he darted for 
the sluice, and I even almost expected he would ascend 
to the lake above ; then he headed for the rapids, but 
always lacked the courage or inclination to go into the 
white water. At length he began to swim in narrower 
circles, and we then knew that the strain of the rod had 
conquered him. As we had absolutely no idea as to what 
the fish was, we were, well, somewhat excited. Salmon 
he w^as not, we knew very well, for never did salmon 
behave as did this fish. 

"At leno^th we succeeded in landino- him, and then 
Leweys exclaimed ' Togue ! ' The weight of the fish was 
about fifteen pounds. 

"There are a good many other instances on record 



H4 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

of the lake trout taking the fly," I continued, "although 
as a rule he can be taken only with the bait, in still- 
fishing, or by trolling with the spinning minnow, in deep 
water." * 

* The vagaries and caprices of the Salnionidie in accepting' and rejecting the 
artificial fly are not only well known to fishermen, but they are acknowledged as 
being no safe thing to reckon on. That is to say, no one can declare positively 
that a particular variety will take such and such a flv always, and another variety 
will never take any kind of a fly. So that when we see the statement made in 
fishing books that lake trout always refuse the fly, we will receis'e it -with many 
grains of saline allowance. For years I have held the belief that the toag of Grand 
Lake and some of the other Maine lakes, and the lunge of the Connecticut River 
lakes, and those in Canada, are identically the same fish, and I find that I am not 
alone in my opinion. 

S. Carman, in his interesting paper on "Salmon and Trout," published in the 
Massachusetts Fish Commissioners' Report for 1884, groups the lake trout found in 
"the great lakes, and their tributaries, eastward to the Atlantic and northward to 
Hudson's Bay," into one species. He excepts only the Salnw siscowet, found in 
Lake Superior, and includes all the other species described by authors as ^. naniay- 
ciish, diuethystinus, ioiiia, conjhiis and syiiuiietrica, calling them all S. imiiiaycns/i. 
I do not know that I am prepared to follow him fully, although the series of spe- 
cimens to which he has access entitles him to consideration. If we have but two 
species of lake trout in this country, it is.ver)- important that fishermen should know 
it. Of course, color and markings cannot be depended on in establishing species, 
for these vary greatly. Mr. Garman says, in describing all the fish grouped as S. 
iiaiiiayrnsli , that the color is "grayish brown, very light "to very dark, with pale 
spots on the sides and dark marblings on the cheeks," but every fisherman knows 
that the color will vary even more than from "very light to very dark." 

The following description and account of the habits of the togue is from a bro- 
chure on this fish, published by A. C. Hamlin, M.D., and reprinted in the second 
annual report upon the "Natural History and Geology of the State of Maine, 1882." 
I present it here, because, so far as my own observation goes, it will apply to most 
of the so-called "lake trout" of the North and East. 1 omit the purely technical 
portions of the description . 

"The togue, Sal/no toiiia, Hamlin. This trout, known among the aborigines 




It's a Good One. 



146 IVitJi Fly- Rod ami Caiiicm. 

"What sort of a fish is the land-locked salmon, that 
you spoke of?" asked Hiram; "I don't think I ever saw 
one, altogether." 

"Well, Hiram," I replied, "as near as I can describe 

as the tog-ue, tuladi, etc., li;is been classed Ijy some observers as identical with 
the Salnio huclio of the Danube and uf the lakes of northern Europe; but in 
these classifications peculiarities of anatomical structure have been overlooked, and the 
habits of the two lishes ha\e also been noted as similar, wliereas in reality the\- 
present great contrasts, for the one, agile and alert, seeks the swift and foaniing 
currents of the clearest streams, and the other, sly and sluggish, haunts always the 
quiet waters of the deepest lakes. It is mentioned by ]Mr. C.esner in his report 
upon Xew Brunswick, and identified with the Saliiio laciistns of Lake Cieneva ; a 
proper examination of the two fishes, however, will satisfy the naturalist that few 
positive analogies can be drawn ; and again it is iLlentilieil \\\\.\\ the Saliiio ferox of 
Loch Arve, in Scotland, in the descriptive catalogue of fishes of New lirunswick, 
by Mr. Perley, who identifies from the characters tlrawn by Sir W, Jardiiie and ^\x . 
Varrell, some of which would certain!)- lead the observer, unless miniUe, into the 
same error, for it cannot be denied that great similarities are to be observed, but 
there are also as many with the .V. i-iylliiniis of Siberia. 

"There is none among all the Saliiioiiidce which resembles it more in form, color, 
linear markings, etc., than the .S". sisconiet described by j\l. ^Vgassiz, and until that 
eminent naturalist in a momentarv' examination observed differences, it was regarded 
as identical with that species. 

"In shape it is not so elegant as that of some other species of the Salnioiiidce, 
but its whole form indicates great strength and swiftness, although it has the repu- 
tation of being slow and sluggish. The female is more perfect in its proportions 
than the male, not having that gibbous appearance at the nape, where the outlines 
of the head pass into tliose of the back, and besides its general contour is more 
delicate. A rich, pearly lustre covers the ventral regions, deepening into russet to- 
ward the lateral line, above which the color appears of a deep mottled gray, still 
deepening into blue as it approaches the dorsal summit. The same pearly hues, 
blended and intermingled with gray, are observed upon the opercula. Spots and 
markings of a light sienna color appear on the sides ; these spots are circular, with- 
out being ocellate, and appear indistinct and grayish upon the dorsal and upon tlie 
commencement of the caudal. ^VU these colors vary accorLling to the seasons and 



lyifh Fly- Rod and Camera. 147 

it, it looks very much like a grilse, but has a wider tail 
and higher dorsal or back fin." 

"They are very gamy, I am told," remarked Frere ; 
"friends of mine who have taken them in the Schoodics 
describe the land-locks as being full of life and great 
fiehters." 

"Yes," I answered, "the}' resemble a grilse in that 
respect, they jump high and often, and are very strong 
for their size. If we had not had so much fish talk to- 

local influences, being brighter at tlie spawning period than at other times. This 
trout inhabits many of the great lakes and tleep mountain tarns of Maine- and New- 
Brunswick, bill it is Ijelieved n(Jt to exist in those of eastern New Urunswick, which 
singular hiatus in its distribution perhaps may be explained by the absence of deep 
waters in that country. It haunts the deepest waters, where tlie cold, or the repose 
to which it leads, favors that develi)pnient and conser\ation of fat which is indeed 
a characteristic, and it steals forth in quiet at the approach of twilight or at early 
morn to the shoals and the shores in quest of its pre_\-, which consists, for the most 
part, of the Lota and Cypriiiidcc; but its baffled voracity often contents itself with 
substances entirely foreign, as its stomach presents sometimes a heterogeneous mass 
of bones, leaves, twigs and fragments of decayed wood. Its habits var)- in some 
localities ; in certain lakes they are bold, and, ranging near the surface, at times 
may be taken h\ trolling, but never rising to tlie II}-, while in other lakes they are 
timid ami seek the obscurest recesses ; thus, for instance, their existence ii-i the Tunk 
Lakes was unknown fur more than half a century to the inliabitants living near their 
shores. 

"Its mysterious nature has furnisheci the all-observing Indian with some proper 
idioms, and it appears again in the vague mythology and wild legends of that ahnost 
extinct race. Its names are various among the different tribes, and if the present 
are not of the half-breed Canadian date they are perhaps of recent origin, since the 
few remaining dialects have changed greatly within a century past. Considering, then, 
the uncertainty of its ancient name and the diversity of its synonym, 1 propose my 
friend Toma of the Openangos." 



148 WW I Fly- Rod and Caiiiem. 

night, I would givt^ you an account of one of my trips 
to the Schoodics in old times; but it is g-etting- late and 
I think we are all tired enough to go to bed." 

"Oh, it's not late yet," exclaimed h>ere, looking at 
his watch, "it's only half-past eight. Fire away, and let's 
hear about the land-locks." 

"Yes," said the guides, "we can't get too many fish 
stories." 

■'Well, fix the fire, boys," said I, "and 1 will do as 
you say." 

Hiram arose, and drawing the half-burned logs to- 
eether in the middle of the fire, he added two or three 
large ones to serve as side sticks and fore sticks. 

The flames and sparks shot up and illuminated the 
forest about us in a way that the camper-out delights in. 
What is there more cheerful and inspiring than such a 
fire as that, and on such an occasion .? 

'Tt was away back in the sixties that we used to 
eet our best fishincr in the Schoodics," I beijan. "and it 
was royal sport indeed. There are now huge tanneries 
and mills on the stream where we had the best success, 
and, of course, they have injured the fishing there, al- 
though there are plenty of land-locks left. 

"I visited the stream last November on a tour I 
made of the dift'erent fish hatcheries, and saw six or seven 



150 PVith Fly- Rod and Cauiem. 

hundred beautiful lish swimmino- about in the corrals. But 
in those days that I speak of there was not a house on 
the stream ; in fact it was a wilderness, as one mig-ht say. 

"We used to start for the lakes about the beu:innin<>" 
of September, and we put in about two weeks there. We 
thus not only avoided the black flies which abounded there 
in the sprini^ and summer months, but we got also, in 
addition to the fishing, some very fine shooting, there 
being an abundance of feathered game all around those 
lakes. 

"On the occasion that I am about to describe, we 
left Boston in one of the fine steamers of the Interna- 
tional Steamship Company. I had two friends along as 
companions, both of them visiting the Schoodics on this 
trip for the first time. It is a most delightful trip from. 
Boston to Eastport on one of these steamers, and well 
worth taking even for the trip alone. 

"On this occasion we had a fine run to Portland, 
at which city we arrived at about four o'clock \\\ the af- 
ternoon, and as we had a large amount of freight to un- 
load and another lot to take on, we did not leave until 
about sundown. 

"Ihere Avas a piano on the boat, and one musically 
inclined young man thrummed some popular airs on it, 
a portion of the audience joining in the choruses. Their 




Falls on a Tributary of the Cascapedl\ River, P. Q. 



152 IVitJi Fly- Rod and Cam cm. 

voices were not always ' tuned to one harmonious key,' 
and the piano was not of the best, still it was music, and 
music on the water is always acceptable, as I have proved 
on many occasions. Once, while making a W^estern trip, 
I found myself an a river steamer which was blessed, or, 
if you prefer, the contrary, with a calliope. No one on 
board seemed to know how to play it, but when the cap- 
tain learned that I could play the piano, he insisted that 
I should try the calliope. I went and tried ! And such 
an experience as I had ! There was a keyboard corres- 
ponding to that on a piano, each key being connected 
with a valve, which when opened by pressure on the key, 
emitted a screech, approximating to some tone. Harmony 
on the instrument was bad, for the tones and intervals 
were far from perfect, but the air played sounded some- 
thingr like Avhat it should be. 

"Well, I went at the calliope, and after a few pre- 
liminary flourishes to get the hang of the thing, I began 
the 'Brindisi' in 'II Trovatore.' Soon I had an audience 
of about fifty Buckeyes, Hoosiers, etc., with their wives 
and sweethearts, and they were not satisfied until I had 
exhausted my repertoire. When I state that every note 
went through my head like a clap of thunder, and that 
the valves leaked the steam so badly that I was envel- 
oped in a cloud worse than a Russian bath, and intensely 



154 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

warm, you will honestly acknowledg-c that I earned the 
applause I obtained." 

"Ha, ha!" laughed Frere, "you worked your passage." 

"I did," I replied. "But to resume my story. 

"After Ave had two hours of sincrino; in the cabin, we 
sought our staterooms and slept soundl}' until daybreak. 
On going on deck we found that the day promised to 
be fair, but a good sea was on. A number of hardy 
souls were 'forrard' enjoying the magnificent sunrise; we 
joined them, and until we reached the wharf at Eastport, 
we had a most enjoyable sail. 

"The shores of northeastern Maine are remarkably 
picturesque ; sometimes immense ledges break abruptly 
from the ocean and tower aloft hundreds of feet ; their 
surfaces are deeply fissured and broken, and the beating 
waves ascendincj, enter numerous caves and inlets, then 
descendine aeain, the water orushes from the fissures and 
caverns in a series of most beautiful cascades. Anon, 
richly Avooded hills appear, then pastures, farms and \'A- 
lages. Sometimes the shores are so abrupt, that the 
steamer passes almost Avithin a biscuit- toss of them, and 
the thunder of the great paddle Avheels, the hissing of 
the AA'ater before the cutting prow, the voices of the peo- 
ple on the deck, all are echoed back Avith Avonderful dis- 
tinctness. 



156 IVifJi Fly- Rod n/nf Caiucra. 

"Sometimes a. lii^hthousc is seen perched on a led^-e 
ahead. As we approach the gray old wave -beaten sen- 
tinel, the light keeper, who has been watching our com- 
ing, salutes us by ringing his ponderous fog bell. The 
rich, sad tones steal over the waters and are lost in the 
immense space beyond. We acknowledge the salute by 
blowing the steamer's whistle, and then pass on, 

"At ten o'clock in the forenoon we reached the wharf 
at Eastport, and were transferred to the river steamer 
which plies between Eastport and Calais. After a half 
hour's delay we started. Passing through St. Croix Bay 
we commenced the ascent of the St. Croix River, and 
at about four o'clock reached Calais, our destination. 

" Here we secured rooms for the night at one of the 
hotels, and set about procuring and packing our stores 
for our outing. On the following morning we took the 
train for the lakes. The road is, or was, operated by 
the lumber companies along the river, and the trains were 
run almost entirely in their interest. 

"Our train on this occasion was a long one, a num- 
ber of open cars with long benches being attached to the 
regular train for the accommodation of a picnic party on 
an excursion to a grove somewhere on the line. What 
a chattering, happy, rosy, careless crowd it was ! Sires 
and dames with huge baskets of provender, careful swains, 



IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. '57 

and beautiful red-lipped tempting lasses, youths in spen- 
cers and newly donned breeches, and little maidens re- 
;oicino- in shinin., faces, curly tresses and clean pmafores. 
How^they tumbkd into the cars, and without loss of tn.e 
scrambled into the first convenient seats. Here a buxom 
dame with half a dozen little ones in her lap or swarm- 
in. about her seat; there a patient old lady, w.th neat 
cap hidden beneath a huge sun bonnet, trying to qu.et 
, ,o„„,.,er who was almost irrepressible. Yonder, three 
or four pretty girls of fifteen or sixteen cast furtive glances 
at us and then, when detected, joined in one harmonious 
„;a„-ll Behind us a tender swain, evidently past askmg 
thT anxious question, was seated with his inamorata m 
his lap. and folded in his would-be tender arms. 

..U that party did not have a jolly time, a roarmg 
ioUy time, when it got into the grove and indulged m 
all the phases of a rustic picnic, I am greatly mistaken. 
1: had all the essentials; the day was pleasant; b,g bas- 
kets in great mmrbers were to be seen on all sides; the 
sexes were just fairly proportioned, with the female ele- 
n^ent in the proper majority, of course. Black flies and 
n,osquitoes were no. es, and what was there to prevent 
enjovment:^ I am greatly in error if. before n.g tfall not 
nti-e than one tender story was told beneath the shady 
pines and hemlocks, if there was not more than one soft 



158 IVifJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

promise, one tremulous wJiispered assent, one loni^-drccwn 
sig-h of tender passion." 

"Yes, )-es, that's first-rate, and mig"hty interesting-," 
interrupted Frere, "but ^Yhere do your land-locked salmon 
come in?" 

"We'll come to them shortly," 1 replied 

"When we reached the station at Leweys Island, the 
terminus of the railroad, and the point of departure for 
the Schooclics, we found the miscellaneous crowd that al- 
ways assembles at such out-of-the-way places for the arrival 
of the train. 

"Among the faces I recognized my old Indian guides 
Etienne Leweys, Sol Sepsis, Pete, his brother, and others, 
who greeted us heartily. In a short time our luggage 
was removed from the cars to the canoes which we were 
to have, and as soon as w^e had changed our clothes at 
the hotel for others better adapted to bush life, we joined 
our guides at the shore, and, embarking in the birches, 
were soon upon the waters of Big Lake, the lower of 
the chain. 

"Our guides were old Pete Sepsis, one of the most 
reliable Indians on the lake, and Mitchell Leweys, the 
oldest son of Etienne, a good canoeman and a first-rate 
all-round man for a fishing or hunting- trip in that section. 
My companions, vvdio were a little of the 'llo-ht- weight' 




o^ 



i6o JVitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

order, occupied Sepsis's canoe, while I, tog"ether with a 
greater portion of the lug-gage, made a good load for 
Leweys's birch. 

"The Passamaquoddy birch glides over the water like 
an eggshell, and with a sturdy hand at the paddle it goes 
with surprising swiftness. In less than three-quarters of 
an hour we had reached Indian Point, a settlement of 
Indians five miles above the island, and this too with the 
canoes loaded well down with ourselves and baggage. 

"This settlement comprised some four hundred souls. 
It was in a flourishing condition, had a school house, a 
priest house, or church, and there were about two hun- 
dred acres of land under cultivation, growing Indian corn, 
potatoes, beans, wheat, oats and vegetables, in fact nearly 
everything grown on northern farms except fruit, the sea- 
sons being too short for its successful culture. 

"After landing at the settlement, and inspecting the 
various improvements, spending a short half hour, we re- 
turned to the canoes. 

"The passage up the lake was charming. The wind 
was blowing fresh and a considerable sea was running — in 
fact I almost expected once or twice to be swamped, but 
the frail birch swam buoyantly over the waves, impelled 
at a rapid rate, by the powerful strokes of the Indian's 
paddle. 



JVitJi Fly- Rod and Cam em. i6i 

"The immense stretch of water faded away in the 
distant horizon, with but a thin strip of hills beyond. 
The shores of the lake are generally rather low, not high 
nor mountainous, and the surrounding country is much 
more level than the lake country in the western part of 
Maine near the Rangeley Lakes. 

"We reached the outlet of the Grand Lake Stream 
late in the afternoon, and landing our baggage, my com- 
panions busied themselves in pitching the tent, making 
beds, and putting on the camp kettle and potato pot over 
the rousing fire, which was soon kindled by old Sepsis. 
Leweys and I re-entered our canoe as soon as I had got 
my tackle ready, and he poled the birch out into the ra- 
pids in order that we might try the land-locks. When 
we were in a good position, I began casting, and in a 
very short time I got a rise, and rise it was indeed, for 
a handsome fish, an exact counterpart of a grilse, but not 
so large, leaped clear of the water, and seized my fly as 
I was lifting it. Fortunately my line was straight, or my 
tip would have gone. 

"Jn an instant he was darting down the stream, spin- 
ning my line from the reel with a speed that made my 
nerves tingle. What frantic efforts he made to free him- 
self ; but in vain ; the hook was securely fastened, and no 
leaping or running or jumping would avail him. After 



1 62 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

playing him a short time, the landing net was passed 
under him, and he was lifted into the canoe. It was 
my first fish of the season, and what a beauty he was 
— a miniature salmon in almost every particular. 

"In a short time I secured another, and with these 
we returned to camp. Old Sepsis glanced at them ap- 
provingly, and said, ' Good luck ; fish mighty skace, leetle 
too early for um.' 

"The fish were soon fried, and supper was ready; 
and such a meal as we ate ! The potatoes and fish dis- 
appeared as if by magic, and the other comestibles suf- 
fered in proportion. 

"After the meal was disposed of, I climbed the hill 
above the camp to take a view of the scene. Every stone, 
every tuft of grass, every clump of bushes and group of 
trees looked as familiar and unaltered as if I had left 
them but the day before. It almost seemed as if every 
whisper in the leaves of the trees was a welcome to me, 
as if they were saying, 'We're glad to see you once more 
up here in the wilderness.' However, whether they were 
glad to see me or not, I was happy to be once more 
among them and enjoy their pleasant company. 

"We awoke next morning at daybreak, and after a 
turn at the fire, for the mornings were already quite cool, 
we entered the canoes for a raid among the ducks, which 



164 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

at that season of the year were very abundant among the 
reeds and swales on the shores, and at the outlets of the 
small rivers and streams which empty into the lakes. My 
two friends started in old Sepsis's canoe, while I had the 
younger Indian to myself. 

"The ducks most abundant were the dusky or black 
duck {Anas obscttra), the summer duck, the golden-eyed 
duck, sometimes called the whistler, and the hooded mer- 
ganser. They were fully feathered, and although not ex- 
tremely wild, still were hard to kill, flying fast and strong, 
and getting up at pretty long range. 

" I directed my canoeman to steer at once for the 
stream called Little Silver by sportsmen, and before we 
reached its waters we heard the quacking of the black 
ducks and prating or prattling of the summer ducks, in- 
dicating that the reports of my friends' pieces who were 
busy among the reeds at the outlet, had warned the game 
that the enemy was moving. 

"In a few minutes we were silently gliding among 
the lily pads and reeds in the river, and before we had 
traversed twenty rods of its length the low 'hist' of the 
Indian, and his whispered warning that there was 'much 
duck ahead' showed me that the moment for action had 
arrived. Cocking both hammers of my gun, I sank down 
into the canoe and scanned the water around, but not a 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 165 

duck was visible ; I looked, and strained my eyes, but 
without success. 

"There was my g'uide, anxious and demonstrative at 
the near presence of a 'heap of duck,' while I was as 
oblivious of their position as a blind man. 'You no see 
him duck? Much duck! There, you no see him — one, 
tw^o, three, man)"?' was his eager whispered inquiry, but 
the birds were still invisible. 

"Shortly, as we silently moved close along the bank 
of the stream, I saw a quick movement in the grass a 
long gunshot off, and then detected the crouching forms 
of a number of wood ducks. 

"The Indian, when he found that I had seen the 
birds, relapsed into his usual quiet, and gave his whole 
attention to their movements and to obtaining' a nearer 
approach to them. Silently his paddle moved — not a rip- 
ple, not a bubble showed that we were drawing near ; but 
plainer grew the outlines of the birds among the grass, 
plainer the exquisite beauty of their plumage, their ele- 
gance of form. A movement among them — they huddled 
close down and were for a moment almost invisible. Now 
was the moment to pour in the leaden hail among their 
numbers, but in an instant it passed, and the ducks with 
outcries of alarm arose in one huge flock, and with swift 
■ wing sped across the bogs. 



1 66 M'^'ith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" But all of them were not successful in their flight, 
for with one barrel I cut down a fine drake, which fell 
into the river, and with the other I dropped two more, 
which fell among- the swale and mud of the boo-s. 

" Recharging my gun, I picked up my game with my 
landing net, and we continued up the river. At every 
few rods we flushed small flocks of ducks, but they had 
been alarmed at the firing and arose always beyond gun- 
shot. At length, as we were drawing near to the end of 
navigable water, the trees and underbrush growing up 
among the swale, the Indian paused and motioned to a 
clump of lily pads and grass but a few rods from the 
canoe. I carefully scanned the spot, but, saving a slight 
ripple, could detect nothing. Keeping perfectly motion- 
less and closely watching, at length we caught a glimpse 
of a duck, as it appeared, and in an instant it was gone 
beneath the surface. 

" Leweys could not understand it. 'Where he gone?' 
he whispered; 'he here a minute, den gone.' What the 
bird was that dived so quickly from sight I knew at once, 
the habits of the grebe being familiar to me, but ' Little 
Indian,' as we called Leweys (to distinguish him from 
Sepsis, whom we called 'Big Indian'), was not satisfied, 
and would not believe that it was not a duck adopting 
this, to him, novel mode of escape, and I was obliged to 



1 68 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

shoot the bird to show that I was right in my declaration 
of its identity. 

"At the report of my gun it seemed as if the whole 
meadow was changed to a swarm of ducks — in all direc- 
tions they arose in clouds, and the beating of their wings 
and their loud cries for an instant deprived me of the 
power of action ; but quickly I selected a thick bunch and 
sent 'among it the contents of my second barrel. Three 
fell, a black duck and two whistlers; one of the latter 
winged and consequently able to escape, which he ulti- 
mately did, taking covert in the swale. This was not the 
only bird that we lost on the bogs during our trip, but 
owing- to the treacherous character of the mud we could 
not walk upon it ; the whole surface undulated at every 
step, and if we for an instant paused we felt ourselves 
sinking. If one breaks through the upper surface, down 
he goes, out of sight in an instant. 

"The formation of these bogs is well known. The 
streams and rivers bring down during their spring rise or 
freshet vast quantities of alluvial matter. While they are 
running a deposit is prevented from forming, but as soon 
as they reach the still waters of the lake their motion 
is arrested, the alluvium sinks to the bottom, increases 
and extends, and gradually becomes firmer and firmer. 
At length it rises out of the water, and at once becomes 



PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 169 

the receptacle for the myriads of seeds of grasses and 
other plants which are carried from place to place on the 

wind. 

" I have in my mind one of these bogs, situated at 
the mouth of a large river which empties into a lake, 
which extends on both sides of the river for a width of 
at least half a mile to a distance of two miles from the 
outlet. It will be seen that the river must have been for 
ages making so vast a deposit. 

"We picked up our birds as soon as I recharged my 
o-un, and started on our return to camp. We got no more 
shots on our passage back, although we saw an abundance 
of o-ame ; it was thoroughly alarmed and kept at a safe 
distance. 

' "Our companions, who had had fair success, were in 
camp before us, and breakfast was already far in course 
of preparation. Soon the delicious viands were served, 
and with appetites sharpened by our early hunt, we fell 
to, and although an abundance was provided, we left noth- 
intr but the bones of ducks and fish when we arose from 
the table. 

"At about nine o'clock we broke camp, and packing 
our luo-o-atre, started over the three-mile carry for the dam 
at the outlet of Grand Lake, at which place we arrived 
with all our traps, and a fine bunch of ruffed grouse in 



lyo IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

our game bags, which we shot while making the portage. 
The dam was a structure of heavy timber, erected by 
the lumber companies across the outlet of Grand Lake 
for the purpose of raising the water in the lake in the 
spring, and by its accumulation expedite the 'driving' of 
the lo^s to the mills far below. Of course the immense 
volume of water which rushed throug-h the stream wore 
out a rough and rocky channel, and the boulders and deep 
eddies behind them were numerous. 

"At this locality great numbers of land-locked salmon 
were found, and the best fishing was there counted on 
while the season lasted. It is all changed now, and where 
Ave then pitched our tent with no other human habitation 
near, stands, as I said before, an immense tannery, and a 
village has sprung up on each side of the river. 

" It took but little time to put our new camp in 
order, and as threatening clouds began to arise, we hast- 
ened to provide against the rigors of a possibly long 
storm. The Indians began to get together a good quan- 
tity of firewood, and I and my two friends took our rods 
and started for the stream to secure a good supply of 
fish. 

" I riesfed a strono^ leader with two flies and made a 
cast over a deep hole just below the dam. In an in-, 
stant I was fast to a splendid salmon. The tremor of 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 171 

excitement which always seizes the fisherman when he 
finds himself opposed to a strong fish came to me, but 
it passed in a moment, for I felt that I should have all 
I could attend to in that powerful stream. With a wild 
dart the salmon struck for the rapids ; my tackle was not 
heavy enough to restrain him, for I was using a light 
single-handed rod and an ordinary trout line of about 
fifty yards in length. 

"Down the stream my fish started, and I followed 
to the best of my ability. Feeling my way cautiously 
over the slippery stones, I was soon in about three feet 
of water and going at my best pace. Those who have 
never had the experience have no idea of the force of 
the water in such a river. As one wades among- rocks 
and stones, through pools and across deceitful eddies, the 
water sometimes rises over the waist, cold, pressing against 
one with almost resistless power. The initiated know of 
all the strength, all the courage, all the caution, that must 
be called upon. Such a situation is in itself exhilarating 
and exciting, but add to it the thrilling rush of a large 
fish, the feints, the leaps, the dexterous power with which 
he avails himself at every turn, and the skill and judg- 
ment that must be exercised in order to subjugate him, 
and one has an experience such as nothing else can offer. 

"Through the rapids I followed my salmon, steady- 



172 l^VitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

ing myself with my left hand as best I could with the 
handle of my landing net, and holding my rod well up 
in my right. My line was nearly exhausted when the 
hsh reached the pool, but I still had enough left for an 
emergency. The fish as soon as he arrived at the quiet 
waters sank to the bottom. I approached him rapidly, 
and reeling in my line with the utmost expedition, soon 
had but ten or fifteen yards out. Giving a lift with the 
rod I essayed to move him, but for a few seconds he 
would not stir. At length he rushed to the surface and 
jumped clear of the water several feet, repeating his leap 
three times in a twinkling-. He then showed si^ns of 
fatigue, and in a very short time he turned on his side 
and I had him in my landing net. It was a very hand- 
some fish and the largest I had yet taken of that species, 
its weight being about four pounds. 

"Adjusting "my tackle, I returned to the upper pool, 
and in a very short time was playing another large fish. 
In a few minutes he seemed exhausted, and I reeled him 
in to within four feet of my net, when with a sudden 
and most unexpected rush he broke the leader near the 
point at which it was attached to the line and darted 
across the pool, a tiy in his mouth and another trailing 
on behind him. Almost immediately another fish seized 
the free liy, and the commotion they raised must have 



174 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

been startling to their finny brothers around them. Dart- 
ing about in the water, and jumping sometimes several 
feet clear from it, they tried to rid their mouths of the 
hooks, but they found it impossible, and soon they dis- 
appeared down the stream, jumping and splashing in a 
most extraordinary manner. 

" I soon rigged a new cast, but confined myself then 
and thereafter to a single fly. I had great sport, for in 
less than an hour I had six beautiful fish, 'Enoug-h is 
as good as a feast.' I gathered up my trophies and re- 
turned to camp. My friends had met with gratifying suc- 
cess, and we had an ample provision for stormy weather 
if it should chance to come. Notwithstandino- the threat- 
ening signs the storm did not come, and the next day 
dawned bright and fair. 

"After breakfast we packed up and started for the 
upper lakes. For a greater part of its area Grand Lake 
is very deep, sometimes as much as one or two hundred 
feet. In the solitude of these depths, behind huge rocks 
in sunshiny days, waiting for the shadows of evening to 
tempt them from their retreats, lay the huge spotted lake 
trout, called by the fishermen and Indians 'togue.' They 
are of an average weight of ten pounds, but often run 
up to twenty or twenty-five. Generally they will not take 
the fly, but will sometimes bite at a spoon or spinner 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 175 

such as the pickerel fishermen in Massachusetts generally 
use. When we had fairly got out in the lake, Leweys 
advised me to throw out a spoon fastened to a long line. 
I took my bass line, of stout braided silk, and making 
fast a spoon let it trail out forty yards behind the canoe. 
Soon I felt a heavy tug, and hauling in hand over hand, 
as we do in bluefishing off Nantucket, I in a short time 
had my fish alongside the canoe. It was a Schoodic sal- 
mon, not a togue, and the Indian expressed his surprise 
at getting him with the spoon, it being the first occur- 
rence of the kind in his experience. 

" Hauling him in, I threw my line over again, and it 
trailed along behind the canoe, Leweys paddling at about 
half speed. Soon I hooked another and another ; and as 
the lake seemed alive with this fish and the togue would 
not bite, I gave it up and hauled in my line. 

"Making myself as comfortable as possible, with the 
bottom of the canoe for a seat and the 'hard-tack' box 
for a support for my back, I soon sank into that dreamy 
languor that one always experiences when moving over 
the water, the ripples jingling softly along the sides of 
the birch, and the measured stroke of the paddle marking 
with monotonous precision the speed and progress that 
one is makinof. And what can be more delicious ? The 
blue sky, reflected by the surface of the lake, that mirrors 



176 M^itJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

with the precision of glass the fleecy clouds passing above 
it, sometimes of a milky whiteness, then buff, cream color 
or purple, as the rays of the sun fall upon their greater 
or less density ; the smoothly moving canoe ; the gentle 
breeze, laden with the aroma of the woods, and givino- a 
health and vigor that is wonderful ; and to these add the 
wild hunting stories of an Indian guide, the narration of 
wonderful encounters with the wild denizens of the forest, 
or accounts of successful trapping excursions away on the 
Aroostook and St. Johns River country, alternating with 
scraps of song or melody hummed to the accompaniment 
of the paddle's stroke." 

"That's pretty good," said Frere, but a little more 
iish and less rhapsody would be just as acceptable." 

Frere was a very practical fellow. 

The oruides laughed. 

"All right," I replied. "I thought you wanted a long 
story." 

"As long as you like," said Frere, "but please leave 
out most of the poetry; we want hard facts up here in 
the woods." 

"Well," said I, resuming my story, "our passage up 
the lake was without further incident, and we arrived at 
the mouth of a beautiful river called Junior Stream about 
noon. After we had had our dinner we left our luo-o-ao-e 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. ^11 

on the shore and re-embarked for a short visit to a small 
pond called 'Little Lake,' 'Muddy Lake,' etc., in which 
pickerel of large size were abundant. This pond is situ- 
ated at the head of Grand Lake, and is reached through 
a small stream that empties into the latter. The water 
in this pond is warm, the bottom being mud and sand. 
The pickerel do not pass into Grand Lake in any num- 
bers, its water being cold and the bottom being rocky, 
and the shores free from reeds and other aquatic herbage 
that this fish loves to inhabit. I do not wish to be un- 
derstood that I fished for the pickerel because I wanted 
them for food, for to my taste pickerel are among the 
most insipid of fish. But the sport that one can get in 
good pickerel fishing is not despicable, and I hold that 
it is doing the fish posterity a benefit to destroy as many 
of these ' fresh-water sharks ' as possible. After a short 
half hour's paddle up the lake and stream, during which 
I shot a pair of blue -winged teal and a pair of black 
ducks, we entered the waters of the pond. At a glance 
one could tell that pickerel were there, for the shores 
were low and marshy, and almost the whole surface of 
the water was covered with lily pads and reeds. 

"Taking a short, strong tip for my rod, and a stout 
line, to which was fastened a spinner, I threw out, and 
in an instant was fast to a fish that made the water fly 



178 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

like a river horse when he struck. Giving him a sharp 
puU I started him, and letting him run a short distance 
expected he would play, but there is as much of life in 
a log as there is in a pickerel until you get him in the 
boat ; he reserves all his energies until it is too late to 
exercise them, when the fuss he kicks up is terrible. So 
with this fish — he kept quiet in the water. After waiting 
a reasonable time I commenced reeling him in. I got 
him close to the canoe, and I can compare the wretch 
to nothing but a long black log or snag. As soon as 
he got near the canoe he perceived his danger and tried 
to back out, and readily towed us a few yards through 
the lily pads and reeds before I got him in. He was 
a splendid fish and would weigh at least ten pounds. 

" Leweys took him from the hook, and in so doing 
opened his jaws, and they were cavernous. ' Jehoshaphat !' 
said the Indian, a favorite expression of his to signify 
wonder or astonishment, 'what a mouth! These devils 
kill more young ducks than a few in a summer. How 
big would a young duck look in that?' said he, stretch- 
ing his mouth from ear to ear. 'Ah ! you villian,' said 
he, tapping the fish over the head, 'you would eat one 
of your young ones as quick as anything else.' 

"When I assured him that in the States and else- 
where pickerel were considered a nice fish on the table, 



PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. I79 

he turned up his nose in disgust, said they were not fit 
for food, for, 'they eat everything — snakes, mice, fish, 
everything and anything; you wouldn't catch an Indian 
eating one.' 

"Throwing over my hne again I was soon fast to 
another monster, and, hauling him in, caught another and 
another, until I got tired of the sport, for pickerel fish- 
ing soon palls on one. Then I pulled in my line, reeled 
up, and we left for Junior Stream. 

"Gracious, how the wind blew when we got out into 
the lake ! Every puff sent the waves dashing over our 
canoe's prow, and Leweys literally had his hands full to 
keep his course. My friends in old Sepsis's canoe were 
hugging the shore, while we kept out in the lake. Poor 
'Little Indian,' as we called Mitchell, strained every nerve, 
but could hardly gain a foot for a paddle stroke. At 
last, to help him, in lieu of a paddle, I seized a frying 
pan with a long handle, and dipping it into the water, 
'hove to' with a will. Whether I helped or not is doubt- 
ful, but I kept our craft in decent steerage way, and it 
seemed to me that we worked along a little faster. At 
length we reached the point of land again at the moull 
of Junior Stream, and, pitching our tent, we soon had 
everything comfortable for a night's sleep. 

" By the time camp was ready, supper was in a fair 



i8o IVith Fly- Rod and Camera, 

way of cooking, and the sputter of fr)-ing pork and fish, 
and merry singing of the tea kettle, and bubbling of boil- 
ing rice, lent their charms to the lively scene. In addition 
to these, before the fire was baking a huge Johnnycake, 
and I must say that in the preparation of this edible the 
Indian excels. The meal is made into a thick batter with 
cold water and a little salt — if mixed with warm water it 
is called Charleycake — moulded against a smooth board 
and exposed to the heat of the lire. 

"As I watched old Sepsis prepare this simple bread, 
I could not but admire the care and patience with which 
he cooked it before a fire hot enough to roast an ox. 
If the heat was too strong the position of the bread was 
shifted ; if ashes accumulated under the board it was raised 
on a few pieces of bark or chips. If the smoke blew to- 
ward it, its position was changed ; and when the upper 
surface had attained the rich yellow-brown that all good 
Johnnycake should have, carefully the old fellow thrust 
his sharp hunting knife beneath it and lifted it from its 
simple oven, and turned it, in order that the under sur- 
face might receive its proper degree of heat. Verily, the 
Indian is the child of expedients, and with the fewest ma- 
terials can arrive at the greatest possible results. All I 
can say of that Johnnycake is that it, and many others, 
are among the pleasant remembrances of our trip. 



1 82 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" Supper over, and after an hour spent around the 
camp fire with stories and KiUickinnick, we turned in for 
r good night's rest, 

"The next morning's sunrise surprised us beneath our 
blankets. Amazed at our indolence we sprang to our feet, 
and in a few moments the camp fire was roaring right 
merrily, 

"After breakfast we quickly struck the tent, packed 
everything snugly in the canoe and commenced the ascent 
of Junior Stream for Junior Lake at its head. Our pas- 
sage up the stream was without incident of note. The 
river is a beautiful one, one of the most romantic streams 
that I ever saw. The shores are mostly covered with 
alders and maples, which as we passed them were just 
putting on their brilliant autumn colors, lending a warmth 
and beauty to the scene that was indescribably magnifi- 
cent. The clear, cold water passed over a bottom of sand 
and pebbles ; myriads of fish were darting about, plainly 
visible through the limpid stream ; chubs, dace and small 
salmon were the only varieties, and we looked in vain 
for the spotted trout which we had come here purposely 
to catch, this being a celebrated locality for that variety, 

"It was near sundown when we reached the rapids 
where the trout usually are taken in the greatest abund- 
ance ; here we repeatedly cast every variety of fly, but 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 183 

not a rise did we get. After many persistent efforts we 
were at last obliged to desist, the trout being evidently 
'off-fish.' 

"We went ashore above the rapids, where we found 
an old bark camp ; * here we concluded to pass the night, 
and soon we had made everything comfortable. It was 
fortunate that we took up our quarters in this camp, for 
the heavy rain storm which came up in the night would 
have most thoroughly drenched us if we had depended 
on our tent. 

"We had noticed on the walls of our bark camp the 
marks of porcupine teeth, and as we lay on our beds of 
fragrant hemlock boughs, listening to the pattering of the 

* A description of a bark camp and the method of its construction will, per- 
haps, not be uninteresting here. June is the best month for building such a camp, 
and Indian hunters and fishermen who design passing a part of the season on the 
lakes contrive to peel their bark and build their camp in this month. In peeling 
a large tree the operator stands on a log or other object sufficiently high to raise 
him from the ground a foot or two, aud with a sharp axe cuts the bark through 
to the wood, as high as he can reach ; he then makes a similar incision around the 
tree near the ground, and then cuts or splits the bark down from one girdle to the 
other. Pushing in the blade of the axe down inside the perpendicular cut, he pro- 
ceeds to pry up the bark for its whole length. In a short time it is separated 
from the tree for half of its whole circumference, when, if the trunk is large, it 
is cut off, and the other half is peeled awa}- in another piece. These strips are 
laid on the ground, if a level rock is not near, and pressed out flat — the pieces 
being laid across each other in alternate layers. In a few daj'S they are dry enough 
to retain their flat form, when they are ready to be used in the construction of 
the camp. 

This is begun by driving into the earth, at a distance of about eight feet apart, 



1 84 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

rain <C)\\ the roof, we discussed the habits of the fretful 
beast. I told Sepsis that in books we often see state- 
ments made that the porcupine has the habit of detach- 
ing its quills and even throwing them at its adversaries 
when attacked. Sol laughed quietly, said that 'book often 
written by people don't know what so.' Among many in- 
teresting accounts of the habits of the porcupine which 
he gave us was this : 

" 'A party of us, men and squaws, had been on the 
mountain yonder a week or two sugaring. We had pretty 
good luck, I got seven hundred pound, my share. Well, 
Sol, my brother, had order for a barrel of syrup, which 
he had got all ready to take down to Leweys Island; 
but one night a porc'pine got at the barrel, gnawed hole 

four slout stakes, forked at their ends (if small trees are not found growing suf- 
ficiently near together to answer for corner posts). Two of these latter are about 
live feet in height, the others about seven, which gives the proper inclination or 
pitch to the roof. On the tops of these posts are laid stout poles, which are kept 
in place by withes, and, with the addition of two or three posts driven into the 
ground between the corner ones, the frame is ready for the bark. The strips are 
lirst laid on the back and two sides of the sliant\-, and are kept smooth and in 
proper position by poles laid across them and withed down to the frame. The front, 
facing the southeast, is almost always left open, and if it is ever covered it is only 
temporarily, when driving storms beat into the camp and make it uncomfortable. 
The pieces of bark are laid on the roof shingle-wise, lapping over each other, the 
rough side out ; these are kept in place by withed poles, and the camp is finished. 
For a fire place a few thin, flat stones, built box-shape, make a capital oven, 
and with a rousing fire burning above it a capital roast may be made. Ordinarily, 
however, in cooking, a large fire is made, and when a heap of glowing coals is 
formed the frying pan or skillet is called into requisition. 



TVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 185 

through it, and all him syrup run out and waste him on 
crround. Ucrh! wasn't Sol mad next morning when he 
found out! Pret' soon he leave off swearing and get him 
gun. A little snow, just enough to track by, was on the 
crround, and Sol started out for him porc'pine. It was 
just sundown when he came back with him cuss on him 
shoulder. He say not'ing, but take axe and cut porc'- 
pine into bits and throw on fire. Then he got to work 
at sap trough 's if not'ing happen; but always now hate 

porc'pine.' 

"'How do you know but one will get at our canoe?' 
I asked. 'It would be a nice joke for us to have our 
birch spoiled away up here.' 

"'No 'fraid,' he answered; 'I turned it bottom up 
upon an old stump. No porc'pine will get at it, unless 
bear knock it down.' 

"'Are there many bears here?' we inquired, instinct- 
ively feeling for our guns . 

"'Heap,' he answered. 'You no see old log front of 
camp? You no notice it had been torn to pieces lately? 
Well, that done to-day sure by bear after pismires.' 

"There was just enough excitement in the thought 
that possibly we might have a bear fight before morning 
to keep us awake after we rolled ourselves in our blan- 
kets. But we heard nothing but the rushing of the wa- 



1 86 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

ter over the rapids, the pattering of the rain on the roof, 
and the soughing of the wind through the trees, and at 
last tired nature yielded and we slept. 

"It was not without disappointment that we awoke 
on the next morning to find that the night had passed 
without incident or adventure. The sun was just gilding 
the tops of the distant mountains and glimmering amid 
the foliage of the tall hemlocks when we arose and beo^an 
preparations for breakfast. 

"Sunrise in the woods! How much is expressed to 
the frequenter of our forests in those few words — how 
little to the habitual city dweller. The words bring to 
mind a remembrance of delicious breezes, laden with the 
aroma of the pine and hemlock; of myriads of birds twit- 
tering and fluttering among the foliage; of woodpeckers 
tapping W4th echoing strokes the dead branches and trunk 
of some old monarch of the forest; of nuthatches calling 
to each other in their soft, melancholy notes; of loons 
away out on the lake answering these sounds and their 
own cries with wild, weird screams of laughter. Oh ! it 
is glorious ! 

"At an early hour we prepared for the day's employ- 
ment. Leweys and I were to pass the portage and visit 
the upper lake to inspect its shores for fowl, and try the 
streams emptying into it for spotted trout, while the rest 



1 88 WitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

of the party were to take the opposite direction, hunting 
the stream and its shores for fish and game. 

"Accordingly the young Indian shouldered his birch, 
and I with gun in hand preceded him in a slightly beaten 
path which ran parallel with the stream. Of partridges, 
or more properly ruffed grouse, I met with great num- 
bers, but they were so tame that it was impossible to 
flush them, as they would walk off into the undergrowth 
as leisurely as so many domestic fowls. I only killed four, 
which I got in two double shots. The birds were of the 
season's hatch, but fully grown, and plump to the tra- 
ditional degree. I saw one or two tracks of moose and 
a number of impressions of deer's feet, but the foliage 
was still too thick to offer any chance of success in stalk- 
ing. Bear tracks and signs were also numerous, and I 
was constantly on the qid vive to meet one. In one in- 
stance a bear had evidently just pulled down a bush of 
the chokeberry and eaten the fruit, for the dew had cer- 
tainly within a few minutes been shaken from the leaves; 
but he either heard my approach or had taken fright at 
some other noise, for I did not see him. In fact, the 
black bear is generally less willing to meet man face to 
face than is the man to meet him. If a she bear has 
cubs she will defend them most bravely, but generally the 
brutes are glad to get off. 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. ^°9 

"Arriving at the head of the carry, Leweys in a short 
time joined me, and embarking in his canoe we were soon 
paddhng out into the lake. A beautiful sheet of water 
is Junior Lake, with picturesque surroundings of the high- 
est degree. 

"Getting my tackle ready I stood up in the canoe 
and began casting in every promising place that I saw^ 
Leweys paddling slowly so that I could cover the water. 

" Soon I got a rise, and in a few minutes a splendid 
fish was floundering in the birch ; soon another and then 
another was landed and I reeled in my line; for I hold 
it a sin to kill more than can be used in keeping the 
camp supplied with food. Leweys told me of a party of 
fishermen (one of them a clergyman) who fished for sev- 
eral days at Grand Lake Stream, and, after catching hun- 
dreds of them, simply weighed and threw them away. * 

"What wretches! who for the sake of vain boasts of 
killing so many pounds of fish in so many days' fishing, 
would sacrifice such a great number of valuable lives, for, 
although the fish were abundant, how long could any 
waters stand such extravagance? 

"The forenoon passed quickly. We coasted along 

■■■" In corroboration of his statement I find in a report of the Maine Commis- 
sioners of Fisheries the tollowing ; "A party of three who were just leaving (Grand 
Lake Stream, in the neighborhood of the '!am] liad been there two weeks, and their 
total catch was six hundred and twenty-one salmon, eighteen togue and eleven trout." 



190 WitJi Fly- Rod and Cmnera. 

the shore of the lake and inspected the various inlets 
and streams, but did not meet with any ducks but shel- 
drakes. 

"As we were crossing from one point to another in 
the lake we noticed a number of old and young loons, 
or great northern divers, as they are called. Such a 
laughing as they commenced, and such diving and splash- 
ing were never before witnessed. 

"The Indian asked for my white pocket handkerchief, 
which he began waving over his head, and imitating at 
the same time the cries of the loons. One of the young 
birds left the group and began to swim toward us. Lew- 
eys turned the prow of the canoe toward them; the bird 
had actually got almost within shot of us, when its mother, 
perceiving its danger, swam hastily after it and intruded 
her own body between us and her young one, and drove 
it back to the group of other loons. Such an instance 
of parental affection was not lost upon us, and as the 
loons swam off laughing and screaming, we moved on in 
our course, regarding them with admiration and respect. 

"As we were moving along slowly, the Indian's quick 
eye descried a small object swimming rapidly toward the 
shore. Calling my attention to it he began paddling with 
great energy, declaring that the moving object was a mink 
that had been out fishing. On reaching gunshot I fired 



PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. ^9^ 

and killed the animal. We found on taking him into the 
canoe that he had a small salmon in his mouth, which he 
had dived for and caught in the deep lake. 

" Leweys asked if I wanted the skin. I replied in 
the negative, when he said he would keep it for a coat 
collar. I suspect that he intended to put it into his lot 
destined for market, for mink skins were then worth from 
five to seven dollars each ; and as this was a good one, 
having but one small shot hole in the head, it could easily 
be worked in. 

"The afternoon passed without any other incident of 
importance, but most quickly, and the shades of approach- 
ing nightfall warned us that it was time for our return 
to camp. A half hour's lusty paddling brought us to the 
carry, and soon we were in sight of the smoking camp 
fire. Our companions had passed as glorious a day as 
we, and the pile of game and fish which we had in the 
aggregate was far from despicable. 

"As we had decided to move on the next morning 
to another locality named Compass Lake, another tribu- 
tary of the Grand Lake, we turned in at an early hour, 
and soon the drowsy god had assumed complete control 
of our senses. 

"The next morning's sunrise witnessed our departure. 
We moved rapidly with the current down Junior Stream 



192 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

and glided out into the waters of Grand Lake. We kept 
a straight course for our destination, and before noon we 
reached our landing place, pitched our tent, and were at 
once at home in this our permanent camp. 

" My story would do injustice to all the pleasures we 
experienced at this place, if I attempted to describe them. 
The Aveather was delightful, the winds always favorable, 
and game and fish were abundant. We named the camp 
'Camp Big Injun,' in honor of old Sepsis, and the com- 
pliment pleased him very much, as was evinced by the 
efforts he made to make it the pleasaqtest of our camp- 
ing places. All our enjoyment was not confined to the 
day's adventures, but at night, as we grouped around the 
camp fire or lounged comfortably on the hemlock boughs, 
many happy hours were passed in listening to the nar- 
ration of thrilling hunting and fishing adventures of our 
guides, or similar ones by the other members of our party. 

" Our outing at last approached its limit, and the time 
for our return home was fixed. The morning when we 
were to start had arrived, and sorrowfully we broke camp, 
packed our luggage and embarked. We all felt that re- 
gret which always arises at parting from pleasant scenes, 
and this camp was by far the pleasantest that we had 
had on the lakes. 

"It was placed on a bluff of perhaps twenty feet in 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. I93 

height above the lake; behind it was a thick growth of 
firs and hemlocks; around it was a large patch of blue- 
berry and whortleberry bushes, the fruit of which was then 
in season, and at the foot of the bluff the ripples and 
waves were whispering and singing among the pebbles 
in their own sweet tones all through the day and night. 
Can you wonder that we left it unwillingly? 

"On our passage down the lake my friends went with 
Leweys, while I for a change had old Sepsis. It was 
only then that I began to find out all the old fellow's 
good qualities, and I must say that of all my experience 
with guides, that of old Pete Sepsis is one of the most 
pleasant to remember. Patient, careful for our comfort, 
earnest in his efforts to please us, always busy for our 
well-being. Sepsis was a gem. During our passage I had 
many talks with him. From one subject to another we 
touched on relielon and the orio-in of the Indian race. 
Of the latter he repeated, to me the following interest- 
ing tradition : 

" ' Many years ago seven men and seven squaws were 
made, which were scattered over the world. One of these 
men was a great hunter ; he killed much game, and was 
always roaming about, and was never quiet at one place. 
When he met the other men and their squaws he had 
nothing to do with them, for he cared for nothing but 



194 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

hunting- and fishing, and, you know, game is not plenty 
where much men be together. You hear httle white man?' 
said he, illustratingly, referring to one of our party who 
was thus designated by the Indians, and who was talking 
with his companions in the other canoe, a good half mile 
off, yet whose voice was plainly audible. 'Well, he much 
talk, always talk, and game no like much talk ; we no 
cret much duck if we talk like little white man. So the 
hunter long ago no have anything to do with the other 
man, but wandered away for many miles through many 
countries, until at last he came to the big water. Then 
he went to work and built him a canoe [pronounced by 
all Indians c'noe], and he and his squaw went out on the 
water, which he found much bigger than any they had 
ever seen, and there were a heap of ducks and porpoise 
and seals.' 

" 'Well, they had a big hunt and killed m.uch game 
and caught much fish. Many days they did this, until 
bimeby a big storm came up, and it blov/ed so that the 
canoe was driven off out of sight of land. 

" 'Well, they gave up trying to get back to land, 
and floated before the wind many days, living on raw ftsh 
and a little game that they had in the canoe. No other 
boat could have passed through such a storm, but the 
canoe hardly got wet, and that same pattern of boat has 



JVifJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 195 

been made ever since by all the Indians, and no other 
people can make a canoe. 

"'So, after many days the canoe came in sight of a 
new land, and in a little while it ran into a smooth cove, 
the man and his squaw landed, and from them came the 
Indians of this country.' 

"With such chats as these our time passed, and we 
reached the dam before I was aware that half the distance 
had been traversed. 

"Pitching our tent, we soon had everything fixed com- 
fortably, and in a little while Avere busy among the sal- 
mon — and what glorious sport we had ! It seemed as if 
the fish were running in by thousands, and we had, in a 
brief space, more than we could possibly transport. They 
were not wasted, however, for the Indians always salt and 
barrel for winter use the salmon taken in the autumn fish- 
ing. 

"We remained at the place during the next day, and 
on the following we started down the portage for home." 

When my story was ended I found that it was past 
ten o.'clock, a very dissipated hour for the backwoods. 

"Come, Frere," I exclaimed, "we had better turn in 
or we shall be late risers to-morrow," and I entered the 
tent and prepared my bed for the night. 

"Yes," responded Frere, "your land-locks have proved 



196 1 Fit J I Fly- Rod and Cauicra. 

such an interesting" topic that the time has gone by very 
rapidly. We must give them a trial some clay," he added, 
as he entered the tent and drew his blanket over him ; 
"there must be some left yet." 

"Oh, yes," I answered, "there are a good many left 
at the Schoodics, and they are abundant now in many of 
the other Maine lakes. In the Rangeleys great numbers 
are found, and they are taken there of very good size." 



CHAPTER III. 



A Bright INIorxing. • Notions abol't Flies. • A Xtisance of Sea Trout. 
Another Salmon Hooked. • Splendid Play. • Dismay. • "Confound 
the Drift Wood!" • Philosophers. • Killing the Fish not all there 
IS OF FiSHiNc}. - Kingfishers and Sheldrakes as Pests on a Salmon or 
Trout River. ■ It's a Wonder \ve have any Salmon Left. • A Sal- 
mon that has Long been in the Rh'er is Shy of the Fly. • The 
Phantom Minnow Used in Trolling for Sal"mon. • A Strange Lot of 
Fish. • Aggravatinc; Salmon. • Exciting Times. • Worms as Bait 
for Salmon, • A Strong Fish, and a Contest Long to he Remembered. 
A -Bad Mess. ■ Retribution. • Rising to the Fly in Still Water. 
An Exciting, Strugc;le. • Victory. • P^ish in Abundance. • Our Per- 
m.anent Camp. - Such Luck as an Amateur Sometimes ILvs. • Salmon 
THAT Pl.ayed Me. • Fisherman's Luck. 



f ^tiE morning of the following day was bright and 
-^ almost cloudless, a few patches only of gold and 
vermilion tiecking the sky, as they slowly drifted before 
the balmy southwest breeze. 

The sun, although above the eastern horizon, as in- 
dicated by the golden pencilings on the hilltops around 
us, was not yet visible to us as we stepped out from the 
shelter of our tent. 



198 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

Arousing the guides wlio were still sound asleep, we 
took our rods and prepared for a contest with the lordly 
fish that we knew must be lying in the river before us. 
The pool was one to delight the heart of any fisherman. 
A ledge and several larije rocks at the head and on the 
western shore afforded admirable casting stands, and the 
beach on the eastern shore also gave abundance of room 
for one to get out a long line over the best water in 
the pool. 

Frere chose the ledo;e on the western shore, near the 
head, while I took the beach on the other side. His fly 
was a handsome Jock Scott, and mine a "Tomah Joe," 
that fly with white body, yellow hackle, and wings made 
of the barred black and white feathers of the wood or 
summer duck, that is so killing with the land-locks, and 
I will say the common salmon also, for I have first and 
last killed in different waters quite a number with it, al- 
though in every case I was told by my guide that it was 
"no crood for salmon." I remember of an instance even 
of a guide offering to wager his day's pay that "that fly" 
would not rise a salmon anywhere, yet inside of ten min- 
utes I had one hooked and saved with it. 

Mine was a much lighter fly than Frere's, but I chose 
it because my casting would be entirely in the shade of 
the forest on the east side of the river, while his would 



200 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

be on the much lighter west side, beyond the shadows 
of the trees. 

In a bend of the pool, and near the foot, though 
beyond my reach, was a mass of old logs and broken 
trees which had drifted in there and had anchored to the 
side and bottom of the pool. I had noticed it on the 
preceding evening and meant to have made an effort to 
clear it away, for it would be a nasty place for a salmon 
to run into ; but I forgot to attend to it, and never 
thought of the mass again until I began casting. The 
attempt, however, would have been futile, as we after- 
ward found, for the tangled stuff, tree limbs, old stumps 
and roots anchored in ten feet of water, would have been 
beyond our combined strength ; an ox team Avith heavy 
chains would have been needed to remove it. 

Frere beeran castincr in the foam and boil below the 
rapids, and, covering the water thoroughly in his usual 
sportsmanlike manner, had his fly in a short time in the 
choicest part of the middle water. My casting was done 
near the foot of the pool where the sea trout in numbers 
sprung for my fly at every cast, and insisted upon hook- 
ing themselves, notwithstanding my efforts to shake them 
off ; this stirred the water fearfully, and soon rendered 
my chance for a salmon extremely problematical. I gave 
it up after taking off my sixth trout, and, standing my 



JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 201 

rod against an old stub, I lighted a cigar as a shield 
against the flies, and watched my friend as he put his 
fly out here and there in the neatest possible manner. 

At length, as his winged lure dropped like a thistle- 
down above the sunken boulders in mid- stream, and be- 
gan to move tremulously with , a series of short jerks 
across the water, a swirl was seen, a faint splash, and 
then the scream of the reel gave token that a salmon 
was hooked. 

Ah ! what a splendid fish he was, as his silvery form, 
dripping with the crystal fluid, leaped into the air, and 
then, with a mighty splash, fell back into the river again. 
A dart across the pool and then another wild leap, and 
yet another, and then the fish sank to the bottom as 
motionless as a stone. 

Frere reeled in all the line he could, and then, put- 
ting on such a strain as caused his heavy rod to bend 
in a half circle, he essayed to move the fish from its 
resting place. Our guides, who had been busy at their 
camp in preparing breakfast, now appeared on the rocks. 
Hiram, who had the gaff, stepped up to the side of 
Frere, where, although I could not hear his voice above 
the roar of the water in the falls, I could plainly see by 
his gestures that he was advising my friend as to the best 
way to handle the fish. 



202 IVitJi Fly- Rod a] id Camera. 

Frere, notwithstanding- he made numerous efforts to 
move the sahnon, was at last obhged to await his pleas- 
ure. Occasionally a tremor of the line above the water 
indicated that the fish was endeavoring to spring out the 
hook, but he remained in one position still, and it was 
only when I seized a small stone and threw it into the 
water that he stirred from his lurking place. 

As the stone splashed above him he gave a fierce 
run down the pool, taking out the line in the wildest 
manner, then up again into the rapids he darted before 
Frere could employ the reel in taking up the slack; then 
with three wild leaps in quick succession he returned to 
the center of the pool and regained his first resting place. 

All this was done with the rapidity of thought, and 
it required the utmost exertions of Frere to pack the line 
on the reel again so as to be prepared for the next move 
of the fish, which was sure to come soon. 

Hardly had the strain of the rod been put upon the 
salmon again, when with a fierce rush he threw himself 
in the air, then with the speed of an arrow as soon as 
he struck the water he darted down the stream into the 
rapids, paused there a second and then dashed back into 
the pool again, circled twice, and then, to our utter dis- 
gust and dismay, he buried himself in the mass of drift 
stuff in the bend of the pool. 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 203 

"Confound the luck/' shouted Hiram, his voice sound- 
ino- hio-h above the roar of the water. 

"Is he off, sure?" I asked as I approached Frere 
and stood at his side on the rock. "You are fast to 
somethine stih," I added, for his rod was curved still 
Avith the strain. 

"I cannot feel him," Frere replied, "and I think he 
has entangled the line in the roots and escaped." 

His conjecture proved to be correct, for the guides 
on going down over it in the canoe, found that the cast- 
ing line was badly wound up in the drift wood, and the 
fly and fish both gone. 

"It's provoking, Frere," I exclaimed. " \Vc are hav- 
ing hard luck; confound that old pile of roots!" 

"Yes, it is rather disappointing," replied my friend, 
reeling in his line that now had been released by the 
guides, "to lose a fish after playing him so long as I did 
that one, but there'll be one more left for a breeder." 

"Yes, old chap," I answered, "there is nothing like 
looking at these things philosophically. I used to go 
shootino- a ^ood deal with a friend who always said at 
the close of a day's sport, no matter whether he had 
good or poor success, 'Well, we had the air and exercise, 
and that is something to congratulate ourselves upon.' " 

"He was right," responded Frere, "killing the fish is 



204 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

not all there is of fishing, and if I lost nineteen out of 
twenty I should still enjoy the outing," 

"Same here," I replied, "but we may as well eat 
our breakfast, and rest the pool for a while." 

"True," said Frere ; "that was a lively fish, and he 
stirred things up pretty well." 

"Yes," I responded, "you had your hands full. I'm 
sorry he's lost, for he was a nice one, but you know 
'there are as nice fish in the sea as was ever taken,' 
hey?" 

"Yes," he replied, following me to the tent, "and 
'there's no use crying over spilt milk.' There, I've match- 
ed your adage, and I will finish by saying we'll pick our 
Bints and try again." 

"We will so," I said, "and now, Hiram, bring on 
your breakfast, I'm as ravenous as a wolf." 

A bountiful meal it was that the guides spread out 
before us, and full justice was done to it by all of us. 

Breakfast was followed by the inevitable smoke, of 
course, and for an hour we left the pool "to its own 
reflections," as I told Frere. Our tent was pitched in 
the middle of a little clearing about three rods from the 
shore ; here many a fisherman, hunter and riverman had 
camped before us, and numerous tokens of them were 
scattered about in the shape of cans, bottles, boxes, etc. 



Pl'^itli Fly-Rod mid Camera. 205 

A number of wild raspberry bushes that had grown 
up were bending with their ruddy loads of ripened fruit. 
A cock partridge was drumming on a log in the woods 
near by ; fluttering in the trees and shrubs about us were 
numbers of flycatchers and warblers, and in the thicket 
behind the tent a thrush was pouring out his beautiful 
flute-like song. 

A number of red squirrels, those chattering, lively 
denizens of the northern woods, darted about us, coming 
almost to our feet to pick up the crumbs of biscuit that 
we tossed to them. What graceful little animals they 
are ; and how quickly they learn who is their friend and 
who their foe. The rattle of the king-fisher ever and 
anon came to us from the river, as the bird sped up 
and down over the water in search of his finny prey. 

"Frere," I exclaimed, as Alcyons harsh tones came 
echoing back to us, "did you ever realize what a de- 
structive pest on a salmon stream that bird is?" 

"What bird?" asked my friend, who had been lying 
on his back and gazing up into the blue heavens above, 

"That chap out there rattling to us," replied Wil- 
liam. 

"Yes," said Frere, "I have fully realized it, and I 
wish that every one else would, too." 

"They must," I exclaimed, "and measures must be 



2o6 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

taken to reduce their numbers very considerably, or the 
streams Avill be ruined. It seems to me there are a 
dozen now where there used to be but one, and they 
destroy in the aggregate a vast number of young sahr.on 
and trout." 

"You're right. Doctor," said Hiram, "and the shel- 
drakes are worse even than the kingfishers," 

"Yes," I answered, "a flock of sheldrakes on a river 
will in a season destroy almost all the fry ; more, vastly 
more, fish are killed by these pests than all the fisher- 
men, netters and poachers take out, and it seems to be 
almost folly for the Government authorities, here and in 
the States, to put into the rivers millions of fry of trout, 
salmon, etc., when these birds are permitted to prey upon 
them. The time must come when a heavy bounty will 
be offered for the destruction of kingfishers, sheldrakes 
and other fishing ducks on the rivers and other fresh 
waters." 

"Yes," exclaimed William, "the sheldrakes are the 
worst enemies the young salmon have, and I kill them 
every chance I get. I once opened a half-grown shel- 
drake and found seventeen salmon fry in its stomach." 

"Gracious," exclaimed Frere, "if there was a flock 
of them they must have made sad havoc." 

"There were ten, counting the old ones," said Hiram. 



WitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 207 

"Ten," said Frere ; "in that case, if they were all as 
full as the one examined, there were one hundred and 
seventy young salmon eaten at one gulp." 

"Yes," I exclaimed, "and they can average six meals 
a day at least; six times one hundred and seventy is 
over one thousand fry a day by a single flock; and this 
is kept up all summer long. It is folly to attempt to 
stock rivers while these destroyers are around, and a 
waste of labor and money. I have advised and do ad- 
vise every one who is interested in fishing to do all they 
can in the way of removing these pests by giving re- 
wards and bounties for their heads. Something must be 
done very soon, even if we have to invoke legislative ac- 
tion." 

"It's sometimes a wonder to me, altogether," said 
Hiram, "how it is that any salmon are left; they have 
an enemy after them all the time from the day they 
are hatched until they grow up." 

"Yes," I replied, "and even before they are hatched, 
see how many pests are after the spawn; eels, suckers, 
froo-s, fish of various kinds, insects, all will eat the spawn. 
I have been told by guides and others who have seen 
the act repeatedly, that trout will dart in and seize the 
&gg as it comes from the female, and even tear it out 
of the orifice." 



2o8 IVith Fly-Rod and Cainei'a. 

''Yes, it's a wonder we have any salmon left at all, 
at all," said Hiram. 

"It's well for the continuance of the species that 
they don't all come to the fly," said Frere, after a pause; 
"if they did they would soon be exterminated," 

"Yes, Mr. Frere," exclaimed William, "that is true, 
for fly-fishermen are increasing faster than the fish." 

"It always seemed strange to me," said I, "that 
while the fresh-run fish will take the fly sometimes at 
the first cast that comes to him, the fish that has been 
in the river a while will pay no more attention to it than 
to a stick. I have noticed it in many different rivers." 

"Yes, it's hard to rise a fish that has been in the 
river long," said Frere. 

"Unless just after a storm and a rise in the water," 
added Hiram. 

"Yes," said I, "they will sometimes 'lift' in such a 
case, but they are hard to move. Many and many is 
the hour I've cast over dozens of salmon in the pools, 
and had to leave them finally in disgust. It seems to 
me that it is because they have become acquainted with 
the feathered lures, for often an entirely new fly — as you 
said, Frere, when we were discussing the vagaries of 
these fish — will attract their attention; but they will 
sometimes come to the bait." 




f f 'f^l c^^ 



p 




J 



2IO iVitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"The bait?" exclaimed Frere. 

"Yes," I replied, " I have heard of several instances 
of their taking the phantom minnow on this side of the 
ocean, and it is common practice to troll for them in 
Scotland with that lure." 

"Yes," said Frere, " W. H. Black in his great novel 
'White Heather,' gives a number of exciting descriptions 
of such fishing." 

"I remember," I replied, "and you will find in Sir 
Francis Francis's book on fishino- and in other English 
works, frequent mention of trolling for the salmon. I 
have heard of an instance of one taking the spoon." 

"Impossible!" exclaimed Frere. 

"Not so," I replied; "one of my friends, whose ver- 
acity I can absolutely rely on, tells me that while fishing 
in the Margaree River, in Cape Breton, he tried day after 
day to rise one of the salmon which were lying in a pool, 
but they paid no attention whatever to the fly. Finally, 
as an experiment, he cast a trolling spoon among them, 
and it was seized in an instant." 

"Strange!" exclaimed Frere. 

"Yes," I replied, "but stranger still is the fact that 
salmon will take a bait composed of a bunch of worms." 

"Worms!" exclaimed my listeners. 

"Yes, worms," I answered; "the Nova Scotia guides 



IVitJi Fly- Rod ami Camera. 2 1 i 

tell me that such is the fact; I have tried almost every- 
thino- however, but have never moved a salmon except 
with a fly." * 

"Ah, Doctor," exclaimed Frere, "it is a damaging 
admission for you to make that you have tried every- 
thing on salmon." 

"Yes," I answered, "but it is true, and I will tell 
you all about it. I was fishing the Indian River, that 
beautiful stream which contains more first-class pools to 
the mile than any other river that I am acquainted with, 
•but which is now about ruined as a salmon stream by 
the enormous saw mill at its mouth. 

"I had fished every pool for several days with the 
utmost care and industry, but not a salmon could I rise. 
At length I gave it up. 

■"■In Chambers's Encyclopedia the following appears: "The array of teeth in- 
dicates voracity, and the salmon seems to prey readily on almost any animal which 
it is capable of capturing;, though it is a somewhat singular fact that the stomach 
when opened is rarely found to contain the remains of food of any kind; two or three 
herrino-s of full size have, however, been found in its stomach, the sand launce anel 
other small fishes seem to constitute part of its food, and when in fresh water, the 
inmnoiv, trout fry, or the fry of its oivn s/voics, 7oon//s, flies, etc. The angler catches 
the salmon with the artificial fly, or with the viiiuioio or the ivoriii [Italics mine.— E. 
A. S.],' and no bait is more deadly than the roe of the salmon itself." 

In addition to the above I will quote from the " Compleat Angler" the following: 
"The young of both grayling and trout suffer greatly from the presence of salmon in 
the tributaries of our rivers, the former particularly are sought after and taken by them." 

In an examination of a large number of salmon caught m the Penobscot River 
weirs, and opened in the Boston markets, I found the bodies of smelt, sand eels and 
capelin, but no other food. — E. A. S. 



212 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

'-'Well, Tom,' said I to my guide, sturdy old Tom 
Mason, 'this is pretty dull music; where are all the fish?' 

"'I give it up,' he answered, 'they were running in 
plenty after the rain, but for the life of me I can't tell 
what the trouble is, unless they have gone up to the 
headwaters of the river.' 

'■'Headwaters,' said I, 'and how far may they be?' 

" ' Oh, the lake at the head of the river is as far 
up as they can get,' he replied, 'and I wouldn't wonder 
if they are all up there.' - 

An idea seized me. 

"'Tom,' I exclaimed, 'can we get up to that lake, 
handily ? ' 

"'Well,' he replied, 'it's a matter of five miles or so 
through the woods ; it's a good tramp, but not a hard 
one, by any means.' 

"'Tom, is there a boat on the lake?' I asked. 

"'No, sur, not now,' he answered, 'we used to have 
a canoe on it, but the river men smashed it.' 

" ' Suppose we try a raft on it,' I continued. 

"'We might do that,' he said, 'or better still, get 
one of the men about here to haul a skiff up through 
the woods.' 

"'If that can be done,' I answered, 'rush it, Tom, 
and we will try the lake.' 



PVitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 213 

"Tom did 'rush it,' and before the following day had 
passed he had succeeded in getting- a skiff carted through 
the woods to the desired place. On the day after we 
made an early start for a day's exploration of the lake. 

"It was a pretty good tramp up through the woods, 
although a portion of the way was over a lumber road, 
but we reached the lake, which is about a mile in diam- 
eter, at an early hour, and, launching the skiff, we began 
our investigation, Tom slowly rowing and I casting over 
the surface as far as I could reach in all directions as 
we moved along. 

"The surface of the water was covered, here and 
there, with the leaves of the water lily, and the water 
was dark and warm ; a few spotted or brook trout rose 
to the fly, but nothing came up worth mentioning. 

"We moved about here and there, castingf and exam- 
ining the water, but not a salmon did we see until we 
had covered more than half of the whole area, and I 
was on the point of exclaiming, 'Tom, there's no salmon 
in this pond!' when a fish darted from the water into 
the air and fell back with a mighty splash close to the 
bow of the boat ; so close, in fact, that the water flew 
in a shower over the oarsman. Tom jumped as if he 
had been shot, and turned in his seat in time to catch 
a glimpse of the fish. 



214 With Fly- Rod and Ccuneni. 

'"What arc you doing, Tom?' I exclaimed, laughing 
at his astonishment. 

"'I'm all right,' he replied, 'only the salmon was 
treating me to a shower bath, that's all.' 

"The leap of the first fish seemed to be a signal for 
the fun to begin, and never in all my fishing experience 
had I seen anything like it — 

Salmon to right of us, 
Salmon to left of us, 

and salmon all around us, leaping into the air in every 
direction. We were now very near the inlet of the river 
at the head of the lake, and just by a gravelly point 
that made out into the water ; and here the fish had 
congregated, there being a deep hole off the point into 
which the cold water from the stream above settled. 

" Sometimes a grilse or salmon would leap so near 
the boat as to make us think that it was coming aboard, 
and I actually caught myself striking at one with my rod 
while it was in the air near me, and even steady, sedate 
old Tom made a pass at another with the gaff, so near 
us did the fish leap. Well, of course, it was pretty ex- 
citing watching the salmon jumping all around us. Some 
were fresh-run and bright ; others had grown dark-colored, 
showing that they had been in the fresh water some time. 
Indian River is one of the earliest in the Provinces, the 



2i6 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

salmon ascending the stream and taking the fly as early 
as the latter part of February ; some of the old brown 
fellows that we saw were undoubtedly among- the earliest 
ones to run in. 

"After a while the leaping and splashing ceased, and 
then I began casting again, and I kept it up off and on, 
here and there, all day ; but, although I tried every va- 
riety of flies, and fished almost as many ways, not a rise 
did I gret. 

"'Tom,' said I, as we ate our dinner in the shade 
of a grove of maples near the rapids above the inlet, 
'what shall we do; I dislike very much to give up try- 
ing to rise one of those fish, but they are decidedly con- 
trary.' 

'"Con-tra-ry they be, and aggrawatin, too,' said Tom 
in reply, .'but if we had a phantom minnow, one of the 
soft, light, elastic ones, we might make them sing a dif- 
ferent song.' 

"'What!' I exclaimed, 'will they take a phantom 
minnow ? I know that it is used on the other side of 
the water, but I never heard of a salmon taking- one in 
America.' 

"'Oh, yes,' answered Tom, who had finished his din- 
ner, and was filling and lighting his pipe, ' I have heard 
of the like, but not often. If we had one we'd try It' 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 217 

"'We would,' I replied; 'it's not in my opinion ex- 
actly sportsmanlike, but I would out of curiosity like to 
offer one to them. I have a couple down at the house, 
and we will try them to-morrow.' 

"'Very good,' said Tom, 'and may be we'll get one. 
I have heard of more than one being taken with the 
phantom, and it is just as sportsmanlike to cast it, and 
fully as hard as it is the fly.' 

"As he spoke he rose and began turning over pieces 
of turf, stones and old logs. I asked him what he was 
about, and his reply was: 'We'll try a bunch of worms 
on the beggars, that is if you have a bait hook.' 

"'Worms! Tom,' I exclaimed, 'who ever heard of 
takine a salmon with angle worms?' 

"'I have, more than once,' he answered, 'and we'll 
give these a try.' 

" I searched through my book, but could not find a 

bare hook. 

"'I have none, Tom,' said I, 'but if you can find 
the worms I will cut the feathers off one of my large 

flies.'_ 

"Tom succeeded in finding a dozen or more angle 
worms, and after he had impaled them on my hook I 
waded out into the rapids, and dropping the bait, let it 
float down and sink into the deep pool below. I had 



2i8 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

not the slightest faith that a sahnon would touch it, but 
I wanted to try the experiment. 

"Suddenly, when the bait had sunk four or five feet 
in the deep, dark water, I felt a mighty pull, and, strik- 
ing, I found I was fast to a large fish. Heavens! how 
that beggar pulled ; the reel sang out piteously as the line 
spun out, but the fish hung to the bottom and would not 
jump. 

"'Tom,' I exclaimed, 'he's a heavy fish and a strong 
one ; he hangs to the bottom like all possessed. ' 

" 'Yes, sur,' replied Tom, sucking away at his pipe, 
'you've got all you can handle, sure.' 

"For over a quarter of an hour did that fish waltz 
around the pool, circling sometimes slowly, sometimes with 
great speed, but never at the surface where he could be 
seen. My wrists were growing tired, for I had kept a 
strain on the fish for all my casting line was worth, and 
I beo"an to find I was Qrettinsf too much of a o^ood thino-." 

"Yes," interrupted Frere, "it must be dull music to 
play a salmon that never jumps." 

"Indeed it is," remarked William, who was an eager 
listener to my story; "and it was a pity to put such a 
heavy strain so long on your nice rod." 

"Yes," I replied, "but I was fast to a big fish and 
wanted to save him if I could. Finally I told Tom to 




A Long Cast. (Inst.) 



220 With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

stand by with the gaff and I would either force up the 
sahiion so he could gaff it, or part my casting line. Tom 
came out to me with o-afif in hand, and I lifted so that 
my rod was bent almost double. The fish began to yield, 
and drawing nearer and nearer to Tom, finally came to 
the surface. Tom, who was ready to use the gaff, when 
he saw the fish coming toward him, shouted, 'The devil!' 
and stepped back. 

"'What's up, Tom?' I asked, 'wh)' don't you gaff the 
salmon, I can't hold him this way long.' 

"'Salmon!' shouted Tom, who had now seized the 
landing net, 'it's no salmon at all, it's a blasted big eel!' 

"'Eel!' I exclaimed, 'it must be a whale!' 

"I gave the beast the butt, and Tom soon had the 
eel in the landing net. It was almost as thick as my 
leg, and must have weighed at least ten pounds. What 
a mess he made ! My elegant casting line, one that I 
had made of the choicest gut, was twisted absolutely into 
a million knots, and of course was ruined. 

"He killed the 'varmint' and cut the line free; it 
was useless. 

"'Tom,' said I, as we got into the skiff, 'it serves 
me right.' 

" ' Yes, sir,' he replied coolly. 

"We had nothing further to say. I rigged on an- 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 



221 



other leader and fly, and we tried the salmon again, 
legitimately, but we could not stir them, and we gave 
up the fight early enough to permit us to get out of 
the woods and reach the house before dark. 

"The next day we tried them again, and the next. I 
experimented with flies, phantom minnows and even with 
'hoppers,' but although the salmon manifested a desire to 
jump all around us, they showed no inclination for nearer 
acquaintance, and we finally left them to their own com- 
panionship. 

" 'Aggrawatin cusses!' exclaimed Tom, as we left them 
on the afternoon of the third day, and started on our long 
walk down the mountain road." * 

"Ha, ha," laughed Frere, "it must have been fun," 

"Fun for the saumon," added William. 

"Yes," I replied, "but not for us. But come, Frere, 

■" That salmon will rise to the fly in lakes and ponds is shown by the follow- 
ing from an article on "Collecting Salmon Spawn in Maine," published in Harper's 
Monthly J\/ii!^riziiie, June, 1874. In treating of the salmon which were being kept 
for breeders in a large pond, the writer says: "Inuring June and July the salmon 
in the pond are constantly jumping, and their agility is remarkable. On two oc- 
casions they have been seen to jump clear over a hedge five and one-half feet high 
above the water. It is not supposed they did this with the design of passing the 
hedge, but accidentally, it being quite common to see them jump to an equal height 
in the middle of their inclosure, as though the leap were entirely aimless. During 
the earh; da\s of their confinement they are frequently seen swimming in great schools 
about the shores of the pond. As the summer advances they become more quiet, 
retreating to the deep water, not very deep, however, for in the drought of August 
and September the greatest depth in the pond is twelve feet, and in the inclosure 
where the salmon were kept the past season only nine feet. In such a shallow pond, 



222 PVith Fly- Rod mid Camera. 

let's give a few more casts in the pool and then move 
up stream to the Upper Twin Pool, where we will make 
our permanent camp." 

"All right," replied my friend, "and boys, while we 
are fishing you may as well break camp and pack, we 
will move up stream soon." 

Taking our rods we made our way to the stands on 
the pool, I occupying Frere's old position on the rocks, 
and he taking my former one on the beach. 

The sun had now appeared above the trees on the 
eastern side of the river and the water sparkled, like silver. 

In the shadows, however, it was dark, and the re- 
flections of the foliage were in the quiet nooks as per- 
fect as if they were cast upon a mirror. 

A southwesterly breeze was blowing down the stream, 
and the surface of the pool was covered with dancing 

with such dark water and bottom, the sun's ra3-s exert a powerful influence in mid- 
summer. At one time the temperature of the water at the bottom reached 72° F. 
Yet this excessive heat has no perceptible effect on the heaUh of the salmon. Dur- 
ing all this time the salmon eat nothing-. In fact there is little room for doubt 
that their sta\' in the rivers is one long fast, lasting from six to twelve months. 
They do seize the sportsman's fly, but it is probably not for the purpose of food, 
but rather akin to the action of a turkey or a bull rushing after a red rag. It is 
a common opinion among sportsmen that salmon will not rise to a fly in still water, 
but this has been plainly disproved at Bucksport. On several occasions in May, 
September and October the trial was made for the purpose of testing the matter, 
and the salmon in the pond were found to take the fly with as much eagerness as 
in the favorite pools of the Canadian salmon rivers. These were, so far as known, 
the first instances of salmon being caught with the fly in the Penobscot River." 



iVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 2.2.-^ 

ripples. My fly, a handsome Durham ranger, alighted 
here and there on the pool softly and silently, and my 
gradually lengthening line soon permitted me to cover all 
the best water of the upper half of the pool. At length I 
made a cast over the sunken boulder in the edd3% where 
the salmon always lie, when a fish arose and took my 
lure. As soon as he felt the barb he eave a rush and 
plunge which made my reel sing out a merry tune. 

"Ah, ha," exclaimed William, who had stood beside 
me for the preceding five minutes, "you've a fine fish, 
Doctor." 

" I think it is a salmon," I replied, lifting the rod, 
"but he keeps down like a big trout." 

"Oh, he'll jump quick enough, no trouble," said Wil- 
liam, and even as he spoke, with a wild dart the fish 
tore down the pool, jumping into the air several times 
in rapid succession and trying to smash my casting line 
as he fell back into the water with a heavy splash. 

When I saw the salmon aiming for the lower part 
of the pool, I remembered with consternation the mass 
of drift stuff in which Frere had lost his fish ; for I knew 
that once in that mass of tangled roots and sticks, my 
leader would part like a thread. But Hiram had pre- 
pared for the possibility of such an event, for as soon 
as he saw that I was fast to a salmon he pushed out 



224 IVitJi Ply- Rod and Camera. 

in tlic canoe to a point just above, the drift wood, and 
began to splash the water with a paddle, so as to turn 
the sahiion away, and the plan succeeded, the fish swerv- 
ing suddenly aside and darting across the pool away from 
the disturbance that the guide was making in the water, 
and finally returning to his first position. 

Reeling in with the utmost rapidity, I soon had a 
taut line on him a^ain, and then liftinof on the rod I tried 
to raise him, for 1 like to keep a salmon moving. It is 
all very fine to stand, according to the ideas of some, 
with a doubled up rod, for half an hour, waiting for the 
fish to stir; but it is bad policy. The salmon tires but 
very little indeed, so long as he is still, no matter how 
strong a lift you put on him, and such a long continued 
strain loosens the hold cf the hook sometimes to a fatal 
extent. 

I found that my salmon was as immovable as if he 
were anchored ; and it was necessary for me to try other 
expedients. Sometimes a few turns of the reel, if it has 
a strong click, will cause the fish to move, and a couple 
of smart blows on the butt of the rod with a stone or 
huntmg knife telegraphs down the line that he is wanted 
"out of that." 

1 tried both, but ineft'ectually, the fish evidently be- 
ing' either in a sulky mood, or else busily eng? try- 




K » 




226 With Fly- Rod a] id Camera. 

ino- to rub out the hook ao-ainst a stone on the bottom. 
We finally started him by throwing a couple of pebbles 
in the water over him, when with a mig'hty leap and run 
he made for the rapids at the foot of the pool. As he 
darted through the water the casting line struck against 
two other salmon, and at one time three fish were in the 
air simultaneously. It Avas a sight that would rouse an 
anchorite, and my nerves fairly tingled. 

My fish, greatly to my satisfaction, avoided the drift 
tanele, and eivine him the butt I restrained him so that 
he turned back into the deep water of the pool and be- 
ean circlino- about as if done for. 

"Ah, ha," exclaimed William, "he's finished." 

But there was still a good deal of fight left in him, 
as three or four leaps plainly testified. How beautiful 
he was as he flashed in the air, throwing the water from 
him in globules of silver as they sparkled in the sun ! 
What other sensation is there to the sportsman equal to 
the feel of a salmon on the powerful yet pliant rod ? 
None; there is positively none to compare with it. I 
have tried almost everything with rod and gun, but with 
nothing else have I ever felt that thrill of intense and en- 
joyable excitement that I feel in fighting the royal salai''. 

"Well, Doctor," said Frere, who had crossed the river 
and now stood beside me, "that's a pretty lively fish." 



228 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Yes, I replied, "he certainly keeps his strength up; 
I cannot understand why it is that he holds out so well, 
he seems as strong as ever." 

"Oh, he's hooked in the tough gristle of the lip," 
replied Frere, "and your line does not drown him at all, 
for his mouth is closed all the time." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Certainly," he answered; he jumped just abreast of 
me once, and I saw the fiy plainly outside his mouth." 

"Well, old fellow," I said, apostrophizing the salmon 
that still displayed a desire to investigate the stratum of 
air above the surface of the pool, "if you are hooked 
foul we'll see what the old rod says about it ;" and at 
the word I be^an liftinor for all the casting- line would 
stand. 

The fish did not take kindly to this treatment and be- 
gan a series of cavortings all over the pool that showed 
he was still worth a good many dead ones. Here one 
moment, there the next; sometimes skimming the surface, 
again hugging the bottom, and leaping as well as ever, he 
kept up the fight for a good half hour, and my wrists 
fairly ached. But at length the play grew less energetic, 
as the fish slowly became exhausted, and finally he laid 
on his side and allowed the gaff to land him high and 
dry upon the shore. 



230 IVith Fly- Rod a) id Camera. 

"A good eig'hteen-pounder !" exclaimed Hiram, hold- 
ing up the prize, "and a fresh-run fish at that." 

"See," said Frere, "it is just as I said, the hook is 
firmly imbedded in the lip." 

"Yes, it is so," I answered, wiping off the perspira- 
tion from my forehead and face; "he was well hooked, 
but it was in a way that gave him all his strength to 
fight with." 

"Well, gentlemen," said William, "I suppose that there 
is no fishing here for a while again, and we may as well 
pack and start." 

"Yes," I replied, "pick some green boughs and brakes 
and cover up the fish in the bow of the canoe away from 
the sun, load up and come on. Mr. Frere and I will 
start ahead." 

In a few minutes my friend and I shouldered our 
rods, and with gaff and landing net we started up the 
stream, moving pretty rapidly, but casting a fly here and 
there, when a bunch of sea trout made the waters glisten, 
picking out a few for our dinner, but not making any 
o^reat effort. In fact the sun was too bright for eood 
fishing, if we had worked ever so well. So, enlivening 
our tramp with stories of flood and field, discussions in 
natural history, and occasional pauses when some rare bird 
or flower or wild plant met our gaze, we kept ahead of 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 231 

the canoe for a long stretch. Our guides found the water 
very shallow, and during a good share of the time they 
were obliged to wade, hauling the canoe over the shoals 
and up the rapids. 

Occasionally we found a good stretch of deep water, 
where we could all take to the boat, but for the greater 
portion of the distance we did not depend upon it at all. 
It was about one o'clock when we reached the rapids at 
the Bie Rock Pool ; here we found that the water was 
too deep for wading, and we climbed aboard the canoe 
right gladly. 

In this pool, as we passed over it, we counted over 
thirty salmon, and the promise seemed good for great 
sport ahead ; this pool being next below, and only about 
twenty or thirty rods distant from that at which we pro- 
posed to make our permanent camp, the two pools being 
generally designated as the Twin Pools, and individually 
as the Upper and the Lower. We landed on the beach 
between the two pools, and walked up to a grove at a 
point near the rapids, which we selected for our tenting 
place, and here the guides soon joined us with the canoe. 

Here was to be our home camp for a number of 
days, its position, lying as it did with several of the best 
pools on the river both above and below it, being most 
favorable. Dinner was, of course, the first thintr to de- 



232 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

mand our attention, and a royal one it was. We met 
it with appetites such as no one but a sportsman knows 
anything about, and I venture to say that the grandest 
banquet ever served could not have been more enjoyable 
than that dinner. 

After the meal had been attended to, Hiram took all 
our best fish to a settler's house about a mile from the 
river, where he was to take a team and carry the fish 
to our friends at the hotel at the shore. Two handsome 
salmon, and about thirty very nice trout, made a pretty 
good load, and we knew they would be fully appreciated. 
He had ahead of him a long ride of twenty miles, and 
would not rejoin us that night, but he expected to be 
able to be with us arain before sunrise the next mornino'. 

After a short rest Frere and I beo-an to cut hem- 
lock boughs for our bed, while William cleared a tenting 
place, made the camp and collected a liberal supply of 
fire wood. We worked steadily, but the sun was well 
over the western forest before everything was ready for 
the night. A comfortable camp it Avas, and situated in 
a most delightful location. The tent was pitched on a 
slight acclivity, a couple of rods from the river. Across 
the wide pool was the base of a high, steep hill, and 
directly opposite the camp a large brook emptied its cool 
sparkling water into the river. At the head of the pool 



234 With Fly- Rod and Cainem. 

a series of rapids flowed with unceasing- song, covering 
the surface of the pool with flecks of snow-white foam; 
at the foot another series of rapids added its chorus to 
the music of the falls above. Around in all directions 
lay an almost unbroken forest. 

After our work was finished Frere and I took our 
rods and began casting at the head of the pool, but not 
a salmon deigned to notice our flies, although we picked 
out a few trout for supper. We had no better luck in 
the pool below us, although we knew that there were a 
great many salmon within its borders. We did not re- 
linquish our eft'orts, however, and it was only when twi- 
light came on and the guide announced that supper was 
ready, that we gave up in disgust, and returned to camp. 
Our poor success did not prevent us from doing full jus- 
tice to our evening meal, and the fragment society would 
have had very unsatisfactory pickings with the remnants 
we left. 

"Frere," said I, as I lighted my pipe and seated 
myself on an old root that thrust itself out in the most 
accommodating manner for my support, "there are salmon 
in plenty, but I am afraid we shall have a pretty slim 
showing unless there is rain enough to raise the river 
and color it." 

"I agree with you, fully," he replied, "the water Is 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 235 

so bright up here that it is ahnost impossible to keep 
out of siorht of the fish and cast into the pools." 

"Oh, ye may get an odd one now and then," said 
William, who was busy arranging the camp fire for the 
night, "but the water is too clear altogether for big fish- 
ino-. Do you remember, Doctor, the luck ye had with 
your Boston friend after the big rain last year?" 

"Yes," I replied, "that was a day long to be re- 
membered, for rarely does an amateur have such luck as 
that." 

"What was it?" asked Frere, who was reclining near 
the fire, "tell me about it." 

"Oh, there is nothing to tell of any consequence," I 
answered, "beyond what has fallen to the experience of 
every fisherman ; my friend expressed the desire to come 
up the river with me, and see me kill a salmon. 'See 
me kill one,' I said to him, 'why not kill one yourself?' 

"'Oh, it's out of the question,' he answered, 'I have 
had hardly any experience in casting, and shouldn't know 
what to do with a salmon even if I hooked one, suppos- 
ing my tackle should hold him, which I very much doubt 
it would.' 

" 'W^e'll see about all that,' I answered, 'we'll have 
the canoe hauled up to the settlement near the river to- 
night, and we'll take an early start to-morrow morning 



236 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

and drive up to the upper pool ; there we'll take the 
canoe and run down the river, fishing all the pools, of 
course, on the way down. The rains have brought up 
the river in good shape, and we ought to get some fish.' 

"'I'd like nothing better,' he replied, 'but I think 
that seeing you fish will be enough. I think I will not 
carry my rod.' 

"'Nonsense,' I said, 'you are going to kill a salmon 
to-morrow, so you may as well fix your tackle to-day.' 

"Although my friend did not seem very hopeful as 
to his ability to fight a salmon, he was finally prevailed 
upon to take his tackle along, and we started at day- 
break on our loncj drive. We reached the river at this 
point, and it did not take us long to get started down 
stream, one of the guides in the bow of the canoe, the 
other in the stern, and my friend and myself in the mid- 
dle. There was enough water to carry us comfortably, 
and we slid down the rapids to the Long Pool in good 
style. Here we found our first salmon. We had put 
my friend through his lessons so well in the upper pool 
that he was now casting quite a decent fly. 

"'Now,' said I, as we stepped ashore at the head 
of the pool, ' you are my guest to-day, and I want you 
to get a fish ; begin here at the head and cast carefully, 
and you will rise one, sure.' 



With FJy-Rod and Camera. 237 

"He did, not seem over-sanguine, but began casting, 
we, of course, looking on, and by the Piper, he did rise 
a nice salmon, although he did not hook him. Well, he 
was just the wildest man I ever saw ; the perspiration 
started on him and he was all of a tremor." 

"Buck fever, hey?" queried Frere. 

" No, salmon fever," I replied. 

" My friend insisted upon it that I should try for 
the fish, declaring that it would be folly for him to at- 
tempt killing it, etc. To all of which I answered : ' No, 
sir! by all the rules of anglers, as you rose that salmon 
he is yours. We will wait a few minutes, and then you 
must try him again.' 

" He finally consented, and in a short time began 
castino- arain, and at the third cast he hooked the fish. 
Heavens, what a yell he let out as the salmon started 
on the run. My friend had a poor affair for a reel, and 
it would not render half decently, so that it kept all 
hands pretty busy in shouting to him how to manage. 
When the fish leaped we shouted to him to drop the 
point of his rod, and when the line was taut again we 
told him how to handle it. The water in the rapids 
was making a good deal of noise that day, I remember, 
so that we had to use our vocal organs to the best of 
our ability, and altogether it was a pretty lively time. 



238 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

Well, as good luck would have it, after quite a fight he 
saved the fish, and I never saw a man more delisfhted 
in my life than he was when the gaff brought the sil- 
very prize up on the beach. 

"'Good enough,' I exclaimed to him, 'how do you 
like it as far as you've got?' 

" 'Like it!' he repeated excitedly, 'I never knew what 
sport was before. I am perfectly delighted, for it's some- 
thing I have always longed for, but never expected to 
attain.' 

"'Yes,' I replied, 'there is nothing like it, and I ex- 
pect you will now want a salmon river all to yourself; 
but, come oh, we'll get into the canoe and try for an- 
other fish in the next pool ; v/e haven't got through yet 
by any means.' 

" ' I'm satisfied,' he exclaimed, getting into the birch ; 
'you must take your turn now, and I will be a looker-on 
the rest of the day,' 

"'Not much,' I replied; you are company to-day, as 
I before stated, and you shall have the first chance at 
the best pools.' 

"Well, to make a short story of it, we fished all the 
pools down, and when we reached the mouth of the river 
we had five salmon and about forty pounds of splendid 
sea trout. My friend, who had had the post of honor 




o 



240 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

along down, killed three of the salmon, while I contented 
myself with the other two." 

"Yes, it was a fine day's sport," said William, when 
I had finished, "and the best of it was, not a fish was 
lost." 

"No, not one," I added; "it was a fine run of luck 
to save every fish ; far different from that which I had 
on the day following, during which I was fast to six sal- 
mon and did not kill one." 

"Yes, that was hard luck, altogether," said William. 

"Well, we have to take it as it comes," said Frere, 
philosophically, " it is the uncertainty which attends sal- 
mon fishing that gives it a great part of its fascination ; 
if we were always sure of our fish, the sport would soon 
become cloying." 

"Yes," I added, "it is not only the uncertainty of 
killing the fish after he is hooked that makes the sport 
so attractive, but the uncertainty of hooking him at all 
has its weight." 

"True enough," replied Frere, "a salmon is attrac- 
tive largely through its caprices. How many, many days 
have I passed working over pools that I knew contained 
the fish, without getting a rise." 

"Yes, and isn't It aggravating," asked William, "to 
know they are there, but don't care a pin for your flies?" 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 241 

''I've noticed that when sahnon are jumping much 
they never take the fly in any water," said Frere, after 
a short pause. 

"Yes, it's the case," remarked Wilham, "they usu- 
ally won't 'take' well when they're leaping." 

"I think that every fisherman has noticed it," I re- 
plied. "I once cast for several hours on two or three 
pools on the Ingram River, in Nova Scotia, over and 
fairly amid jumping salmon, fish that were leaping and 
splashing all the time, but they would not touch the flies, 
although I tried every variety on them." 

"Did you ever have the salmon 'lep' at the fly in 
sport hke a trout, without taking it?" asked William. 

"Yes," I answered, "and I know of nothing more ex- 
citing and exasperating. I remember a particularly mad- 
dening instance on the Margaree in Cape Breton. I was 
fishing that splendid pool called the Brook Pool about 
two miles below the settlement at Northeast Margaree. 
It is lono-, deep and wide, and famous for sea trout and 
salmon. At its head the river flows over steep rapids, 
and immediately below them a large brook joins it, pour- 
ino- in a generous supply of cool, clear water; at the 
junction of the brook and river the pool is very deep, 
and there is a big eddy two good casts in width which 
whirls and swirls about in a lively manner. In this eddy, 



242 IVith Fly- Rod and Cain era. 

and on each side and below it, the sahiion love to lie, 
and man)' an excititing fight have its shores witnessed. 

"I was fishing the pool early In the morning on the 
occasion that I refer to, and everything seemed right for 
a crood day's sport ; there had been a smart rain on the 
preceding day, and the water was well colored and run- 
ning strong. I had made but a few casts when a large 
sea trout took my fly, and it splashed around consider- 
ably before I could land it. It spoiled my fly, and I 
was obliged to change it." 

"Nothing wuss nor sea trout to spile flies," said Wil- 
liam, sententiously, as I paused for a moment to apply 
some "intment" to my neck, face and hands, the midges 
having become savage. 

"Yes," added Frere," "their sharp, needle-like teeth 
ruin a good fly, and, if I can help it, I never hook one 
with a salmon fly, it costs too much." 

"While I was changing my flies," I continued, "I 
stepped back upon the beach, and after a new fly was 
on I stopped to light my pipe, with my back to the 
pool, when suddenly I heard a loud splash. Turning on 
the instant I saw the circles on the water vvdiere a heavy 
fish had evidently just sunk in the middle of the eddy. 

" 'Ah ! my beauty,' I exclaimed, ' I thought you were 
there, let's try for a better acquaintance.' 



244 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" I waded out again and began casting, and was soon 
fast to a large fish, which proved to be a four-pound red- 
spotted brook trout. The current was so strong and the 
fish so heavy that I could not prevent it from rushing 
into the best part of the pool, when in a twinkling four 
salmon jumped into the air almost simultaneously, prob- 
ably having been stirred up by the casting line striking 
them as the trout dashed in their midst. 

"Whew, what a 'kick up' they made. One was a 
small fish only of about eight pounds weight ; two were, 
I should judge, about twelve pounds each, and the other 
was an old patriarch of about thirty pounds. Now, there 
is not another pool in the Dominion that is better than 
that one to kill a salmon in, and I was just wild to try 
conclusions with the bie one. I landed that trout in the 
shortest possible time, and putting on a large bright fly 
on account of the depth and color of the water, I began 
casting again. 1 worked, I should think, a good quarter 
of an hour, but not a rise rewarded my efforts. I then 
changed for a big showy silver doctor that I bought of 
Scribner, of St. John. 

"That started the salmon, and such fun as they had 
with me ! Sometimes one would come up, and often two 
at a time ; they leaped all around the fliy and over it, 
and the big one actually jumped into the air after it; 



246 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

they cavorted around there for a long time playing with 
the fly, but did not offer to take it. This was quite a 
new experience with me in salmon fishing, although I had 
seen trout play the same capers. 

"Well, I held that pool the entire day, changing flies 
and casting, and resting it, in the vain expectation of get- 
ting one of the fish. Several times during the day did 
they repeat their morning's performance, and the big one 
was just as playful as the others ; but greatly to my dis- 
gust I finally had to abandon the pool and its capricious 
inhabitants, and go home, 'a sadder yet wiser man.'" 

"After all. Doctor," exclaimed Frere, laughing, "you 
had 'the air and exercise,' as your friend used to say." 

"He had that, indeed," added William, chuckling, "a 
whole day at it without hooking a salmon, it ought to 
cure dyspepsia; but what sort of a river is the Margaree 
that you have spoken about so many times? I should 
think it must be fine." 

"It is a fine river," I replied, "one of the best in 
the Dominion, if the spearers and netters would let it 
alone." 

" That would be a good thing for every river," said 
Frere, "if it could be brought about; but I fear that is 
not to be hoped for." 

"It is so," said William, "there's no real way to 



248 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

guard a river except by camping on the pools, and I 
have even heard of netters sweeping them, with a party 
tenting on their banks. But tell us about Cape Breton. 
I've heard there's fine farms there." 

"There are," I replied, "and if Mr. Frere is not too 
sleepy, I will use up an hour on that island before we 
retire." 

"On the contrary," said Frere, "I'm not at all sleepy, 
and I would very much like to hear about our eastern' 
' Blue Nose' island." 

William fixed the fire, and then refilled and lighted 
his pipe. I took a fresh cigar, settled myself comfort- 
ably, and began. 



CHAPTER IV. 



A Choice of Routes to Cape Breton. Port Mulgrave and the Gut of 

Cainso. • St. Peter's Canal. • The Beautiful Bras D'Or. ■ All 
About Sydney and Coal. • The Success of the Sydney Fish Hatch- 
ery. • Statistics of Cape Breton Salmon Breeding. • Poor Old Louis- 
bourg. • Baddeck. • A Delightful Trip to the Margaree. • Edu- 
cated Trout. • Success in Using a "Gray Mouse." ■ Northeast' 
Margaree. • Abundance of Sea Trout. ■ The Fishing Station ok 
CHETTIC.A.MP. ■ Work of the Fish Commissioners at Northeast Mar- 
garee. • Taking and Handling Salmon Eggs. • Picturesque Scenery 
ON the Margaree. ■ Lake Ainslee. • A Celebrated Pool. • Out- 
witting Educated Fish. • Whykokomagh. • A Most Enjoyable Sail. 
xA.bundance and Variety' of Bird Life on Cape Breton. 



' /^^\^ COURSE, for you Canadians there is but one 
^-^ route''' that you would care to travel to the Gut 
of Canso, where you take the Bras D'Or steamer, but to 
us from the States there are several, and all are popu- 
lar. The tourist, as well as fisherman, will find much to 
interest and delight him in a visit to Cape Breton. It 
abounds in picturesque scenery, and some of the views 
that one may have there are really magnificent The 

* Via the Intercolonial Railway. 



252 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

people are peculiar In many ways, and quaint and inter- 
esting beyond description. 

" In leaving Boston the tourist has a choice between 
three steamer routes and two by rail. One steamer leaves 
on Saturdays, and touches at Halifax and other points on 
the Nova Scotia coast, and lands you at Port Hawksbury, 
Another runs to Annapolis, from which point there is a 
railroad to Port Mulgrave. The third steamer belonging 
to the International Steamship Company will carry you 
direct to St. John, N. B., where you can take cars to 
Port Mulofrave. The all-rail route from Boston to Port 
Mulgrave is also popular with many. 

*' My favorite route is to take the International morn- 
ing boat to Portland, Me. The sail is one of the ■ most 
enjoyable on the eastern coast; the steamers of this line 
are large and elegant, and the whole voyage is an ever- 
changing delightful succession of most beautiful seaboard 
views of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and a portion 
of- Maine. Arriving at Portland in the afternoon, I spend 
a few hours in that city, and in the evening take the 
express train on the Maine Central Railroad. The boat 
leaves Portland later in the afternoon, and arrives at St. 
John a little after two o'clock on the afternoon of the 
next day. The Maine Central and New Brunswick rail- 
roads, over which we pass between Portland and St. John, 



254 IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

are both well managed and equipped lines, and it is a 
pleasure to travel over them. 

"Arriving at St. John, the tourist may spend a day 
very enjoyably in that queer old city, but it is necessary 
for him to leave on the lo p. m. train from St. John in 
order that he may connect with the steamer at Port Mul- 
grave, on the afternoon of the next day. The Intercol- 
onial Railway runs through interesting portions of New 
Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and some of the views to 
be had from the train in the last named Province are 
among the finest in eastern America. Leaving the cars 
at Port Mulgrave and embarking on the steamer, we find 
ourselves on a neat, comfortable boat, the 'Marion,' with 
Capt. Geo. L. Burchell as commander. He is a eentle- 
man who has traveled widely, is very intelligent, and the 
traveler will find his acquaintance well worth cultivating. 

"From Port Mulgrave a good view is obtained of 
the celebrated Strait of Canso, which is the great high- 
way through which the fishing vessels, steamers and other 
craft pass to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is, I believe, 
from a mile to a mile and a half in width, and over a 
dozen in length. Leaving Port Mulgrave on the steamer 
a view of a portion of the tov/n presents itself, but it is 
not a satisfactory one. 

"After crossing the strait and touching at Port Hawks- 




H 



256 VVitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

bury, the steamer passes along the shore of Cape Breton 
for several hours, giving the tourist a most beautiful pan- 
oramic view of lovely bays, headlands, forests and smiling 
farms. Soon after leaving Hawksbury the dinner bell is 
rung, and we are startled to find a first-class dinner cooked 
and served in first-class style by that accomplished steward, 
Thomas Mitchell. 

"At length the first lock of St. Peter's Canal is en- 
tered. This canal, which runs from the Strait of Canso 
to the Bras D'Or Lake, is a fine specimen of engineer- 
ing enterprise, and the passage through its locks up into 
the Bras D'Or Lake is an experience novel and interest- 
ing. Passing into the lake, the sail is one of the most 
delightful to be conceived of. * 

"One may spend a month most delightfully about the 
shores of this beautiful inland sea, in visiting the towns, 
the mines and the various other points of interest. The 

*A writer well says: "Who can describe the beauties of this strange ocean 
lake, this imprisoned sea which divides an island in twain? For about fifty miles 
its waters are sheltered from the ocean of which it forms a part, and in this length 
it expands into bays, inlets and romantic havens, with islands, peninsulas and broken 
lines of coast — all combining to form a scene of rare beauty, surpassing the power 
of pen to describe. At every turn new features claim our wonder and admiration. 
Here a cluster of fairy isles, here some meaiidering stream, and here some narrow 
strait leading into a broad and peaceful bay. High above tower the mountains, 
with their ancient forests, while at times bold cliffs, crowned with verdure, rise ma- 
jestically toward the clouds. Nothing is common, nothing tame ; all is fitted to fill 
the mind with emotions of keenest pleasure." 



258 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

most Important town on the island is Sydney, and it is 
well worth a visit. It is quaint and interesting in the 
extreme, and its near proximity to the celebrated Sydney 
coal mines renders it a busy, thriving place. It is said 
that the quantity of Sydney coal available is estimated 
at over a thousand million tons. Some of the mines have 
been extended out under the ocean, our steamer passing 
over some of the submarine mines and miners as it sped 
along nearly two miles from the shore, as we were in- 
formed by Captain Burchell, who pointed out to us the 
hoisting apparatus and cars on the shore at the mouth 
of the mines. At Sydney huge ocean steamers may be 
constantly seen at its wharves loading with the black dia- 
monds. One- of these piers is over eleven hundred feet 
in length, and ships of the largest size may be seen ly- 
ing beside it. 

"The fish hatchery at Sydney is well worth a visit, 
for It is one of the best managed in Canada, and the 
superintendent, Mr. C. A. Farquharson, takes great pride 
in the good record It has made.* 

* Mr. Farquharson has kindly sent me the followhig memorandum of the oper- 
ations at this hatchery in the year 1888: "This is the sixth year since the hatch- 
ery commenced operations. Every year has marked a progress m the quantity of 
ova obtained and the number of fry deposited in the various streams. In no sea- 
son since the hatchery was opened has so great success attended our efforts as the 
season just closed except one. Last fall parent fish were secured abundantly, each 
stream fished }-ielding more than on any previous year, and as a natural consequence 



26o With Fly-Rod and Caiiiem. 

"There is one point of interest that every tourist 
should visit and that is the site of Louisbourg, formerly 

the quantity of spawn obtained was much larger — there being a total of 2,000,000, 

yielding 1,415,000 fry. These have been carefully and in excellent condition depos- 
ited as follows, viz. : 

Sydney River, Cape Breton County 250,000 

Ball's Creek 100,000 

Trout Brook i75.ooo 

Black Brook 75, 000 

Grand Lake 50,000 

Twelve-Mile Brook 50,000 

Eskasonia River 50,000 

Salmon River 100,000 

George's River 50,000 

McLean's Brook 50,000 

Margaree River, Inverness County 150,000 

Middle River, Victoria County 100,000 

Baddeck River 100,000 

Grand River, Richmond County 50,000 

River Tear 50,000 

Hatchery Brook 15,000 

Total 1,415,000 

"The total number of fry turned out from this hatchery since 1882, when the 
first distribution was made, is 5,118,200, and were distributed as follows, viz: 

1882 331,000 

1883 569,000 

1884 853,000 

1885 772,200 

1886 1,178,000 

1887 1,415,000 

Total 5,118,200 

"Of course, it is premature to look for the result that will be naturally ex- 
pected from the depositing of so much young fry in our streams, yet the indica- 
tions so far are hopeful and encouraging. In each of these streams supplied from 
the hatchery young salmon are unprecedentedly numerous, together with this during 
the present season an unusually large number of small- sized salmon (7 lbs.) have 
been caught at the entrance of our rivers so replenished. This, with the increased 
vigilance with which our rivers are protected from the slaughter of salmon by poach- 
ers during spawning seasons, augurs hopefully for the increase of salmon in our rivers." 



262 WitJi Fly- Rod mid Camera. 

called Port Royal and Saint Anne. It is reached by the 
narrow-gauge railway from Sydney, and the run of thirty- 
one miles is through an interesting country. 

" Poor old Louisbourg, once one of the strongest for- 
tified cities in the world, is now a srrass-erown ruin where 
hardly a stone is left upon another; in fact the only trace 
of the fortifications now left is an old bomb-proof, quite 
dilapidated and falling apart, a pitiful, woe-begone memen- 
to of ancient o-randeur.''' 

"Near Sydney are one or two fine rivers, the Myra, 
twelve miles from the town, being an early salmon stream 

* Mr. W. K. Reynolds writes of Louisbourg as follows: "Once it was a city 
with walls of stone, which made a circuit of two and one-half miles, were thirty-six 
feet high, and of the thickness of forty feet at the base. For twenty-five years 
the French had labored upon it, and had expended upward of thirty millions of livres 
in completing its defenses. It was called the Dunkirk of America. Garrisoned by the 
veterans of France, and with powerful batteries commanding every point, it bristled 
with the most potent pride of war. To-day it is difficult to trace its site among 
the turf which marks the ruins. Seldom has demolition been more complete. It 
seemed built for all time; it has vanished from the face of the earth. 

" Every New Englander should visit Louisbourg. Its capture by the undisci- 
plined New England farmers, commanded by William Pepperel, a merchant ignorant 
of the art of war, is one of the most extraordinary events in the annals of history. 
The zealous crusaders set forth upon a task, of the difficulties of which they had 
no conception, and they gained a triumph which should make their names as im- 
mortal as those of the 'noble six hundred.' It was a feat without a parallel — a mar- 
vel among the most marvelous deeds which man has dared to do. 

"Restored to France by the peace of Aix la Chapelle, Louisbourg was again 
the stronghold of France on the Atlantic coast, and French veterans held Cape Bre- 
ton, the key to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The brief truce was soon broken, and 
then came the armies of England, and Wolfe sought and won his first laurels in 
the new world. Louisbourg fell once more, and the knell of its glory was rung. 



264 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

of considerable importance, as is also the Sydney River. 
At Baddeck the fisherman who is destined for the Mar- 
garee River leaves the steamer and secures a team for 
his long drive inland. 

"The little book, 'Baddeck and that Sort of Thing,' 
by Charles Dudley Warner, has done more to make this 
place famous than all the inhabitants. Every one who 
has not read it will enjoy it, for it is written in his best 
vein. 

" Baddeck is a quiet, inoffensive sort of place, and 
most of its inhabitants seem 'constitutionally tired,' but 

The conquest of Canada achieved, the edict went forth that Louisbourg should be 
destroyed. The work of demolition was commenced. The solid buildings, formed 
of stone brought from France, were torn to pieces; the walls were pulled down and 
the batteries rendered useless for all time. It took two years to complete the work 
of destruction, and then the once proud city was a shapeless ruin. Years passed 
by; the stones were carried away by the dwellers along the coast; and the hand 
of time was left to complete the work of obliteration. Time has been more merci- 
ful than man; it has covered the gloomy ruins with a mantle of green, and has 
healed the gaping wounds which once rendered ghastly the land which nature made 
so fair. The surges of the Atlantic sound mournfully upon the shore the requiem 
of Louisbourg, the city made desolate. 

' ' Another Louisbourg exists to-day, across the harbor from the site of the former 
city. It has a population of about one thousand, and is reached by the Sydney & 
Louisbourg Railway, a narrow-gauge line, thirty-one miles in length. The fare from 
Sydney is only seventy-five cents, and tourists should make the trip. Some fine scenery 
is found on the road at Catalone Lake and Mire. The Louisbourg Land Co.'s Hotel 
affords good accommodation; and apart from its historic interest the place is worthy 
of a visit. The site of old Louisbourg may be visited and the lines of some of 
the fortifications traced, and one who has a history which gives a good account of 
the sieges ma}- be interested and instructed in following out the plans of the attack- 
ing parties." 



266 IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

it is very pleasantly situated on the shores of the Bras 
D'Or, and its facilities for boating, bathing and pleasure 
drivino' over excellent roads are o-rand. Its main street 
is much like the main street of many New England vil- 
lages, but it possesses one edifice of fame, its jail, which 
Mr. Warner treats of in a most entertaining way, 

"A team chartered and the baggage packed, we start 
for the village of Northeast Margaree, our stopping place 
while we fish the Margaree River. The drive from Bad- 
deck is about twenty-five miles in length, and once taken 
is something that will ever after have a place among the 
pleasant memories of the tourist. The road winds among 
and over the mountains, affording superb views of the 
country for miles on either side. Forests in long stretches 
and well cultivated farms alternate, and vistas of exceed- 
ing beauty open up on every hand. 

"As the carriac^e reaches the summit of some tower- 
ine hill, the almost boundless stretch of forest softenine 
away in the horizon into a faint blue, broken here and 
there by the rugged sides of a towering mountain, makes 
a scene of beauty and grandeur quite beyond the power 
of description. 

"About half way between Baddeck and the Marga- 
ree is the Middle River, a famous stream for large sea 
trout, and salmon are also often taken in its waters. 



268 J4'''ith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"We reached this river at about midday, and as the 
driver informed us that it was the proper thing- to stop 
here, eat lunch, bait the horses and cast for trout, we 
followed his advice, rigged our tackle and were soon busy 
casting in the pool below the big rapids near the road. 
We soon found that the pool contained a large number 
of 'educated trout' of generous size, 

"We cast for at least half an hour, and not a rise 
did we get, although we could see many large fish mov- 
ing about in the crystal depths. Surface fishing was evi- 
dently something that they knew all about. Our flies 
were very attractive and all that, but they were old ac- 
quaintances, and the trout begged to be excused. The 
sight of so many beauties, however, put me on my mettle. 

"The river swept down over several boulders and a 
ledge of slate stone, and pitched down sharply into the 
pool Avhich was below the rapids fifteen or twenty feet 
in depth. There was a strong current where the main 
body of the river swept across the pool, and I thought 
I saw a chance for outwitting the diffident ones. Put- 
ting on my leader a quite large gray hackle, called by 
most anglers the 'gray mouse,' I dropped it into the wa- 
ter, and letting it sink, permitted the current to carry it 
away down almost to the foot of the pool. When the 
line tautened, at a length of about twenty-five yards, I 




a 



270 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

gave it a few gentle twitches and began to draw it to- 
ward me throuo^h the rushing waters. 

"In a moment's time the reel was singing merrily as 
a three-pounder seized the tiy, and such sport as he gave 
me on my eight-ounce rod for a good five minutes before 
he came to the landing net ! The gray mouse was a 
revelation to those sea trout, and I picked out enough 
nice ones for supper in a very short time. When our 
driver gazed upon them his face wore a thoughtful ex- 
pression, but he made no comment. 

"After we and our horses had lunched, we started 
again on our journey, and at about five o'clock our desti- 
nation, the village of Northeast Marofaree, came in sisfht. 
And what a lovely view it was as we stopped on the 
brow of the hill. The quiet little village with its trim 
farm houses and its little church situated in the lovely 
river intervale, in the midst of well-tilled farms, and the 
whole surrounded by mountains which stretched away in 
ranges as far as the eye could reach. 

"Our stopping place was to be the house of a Mr. 
James J. Ross.* I am particular to give his full name, 
for of the thirty-eight or thirty-nine families in this sec- 
tion living up and down the river, thirty-three of them 
are named Ross, and as he keeps one of the few houses 

* Post office and telegraph address, Northeast Margaree, Cape Breton. 



272 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

that are fit to stop at, or in which tourists and fisher- 
men are taken, it is important that those who contem- 
plate visiting- that region shall know whom to address in 
order to secure board and rooms. If he cannot take in 
the new comer there are other houses near by that will, 
best among which is that kept by the village postmis- 
tress ; but as Ross owns the teams and knows all the 
best pools in the country, and is at all times available 
as driver, guide and general utility man, his house is 
much the best to stop at, 

" It was a small, unpretentious structure situated in 
the midst of luxuriant farms. How he and his very good 
other half managed to pack away in it all the boarders 
that they had, has always been a mystery to me. He 
has now, however, an addition built to his old house that 
is capable of holding comfortably all the guests that are 
likely to offer. 

" Here the angler has all the river and brook fish- 
ing the most enthusiastic could desire. Immediately back 
of Ross's house is a brook of considerable size, large 
enough in many places for good fly-casting, 

"The pools in this brook contain great numbers of 
fine sea trout and large spotted or brook trout, called by 
the settlers 'river trout.' These latter fish never descend 
to the sea, and are as high colored as any trout I ever 



274 IVitk Fly- Rod and Camera. 

saw, I doubt, if they were laid side by side with choice 
Rangeley specimens, that any one could distinguish them 
apart. I have seen in the beautiful pool called Solomon's 
Cellar, many dozens at a time that would weigh from 
three to six pounds each. These trout, from long fa- 
miliarity with the usual run of flies, are also 'educated,' 
and they will only rise at early morn and dewy eve. 

"Beyond the brook is the beautiful Margaree River, 
the Plaster Pool being only about half a mile from the 
house. This river is unique in the Provinces, for it flows 
for upward of thirty miles through meadows and culti- 
vated farms, and every pool in this long stretch may be 
reached easily and almost dry-shod. 

" Below and above the settlement there are some of 
the finest salmon pools imaginable, -at least a dozen being 
within six miles. In all of these magnificent pools sea 
trout of great size and gaminess are abundant, and in 
the right season salmon also ; but it is almost useless to 
fish the river for salmon if the water is low and clear, 
for the net and spear quickly take out all the fish that 
have run in, and the fly-fisherman has his labor for his 
pains. If there is a good fall of rain so as to raise and 
color the water of the river, thereby rendering spearing 
impracticable, the fresh run of salmon fills the pools and 
the fishino- is maonificent. 



276 IVith Fly- Rod and Cam em. 

"A good plan is to write to Mr. Ross requesting- him 
to telegraph you in July or August when there is a heavy 
rainfall, and start at once as soon as his dispatch is re- 
ceived. 

" I know of no other river that can be fished for such 
a distance with as little effort from the angler, and the 
beauty of it all is there are hardly any black flies or mos- 
quitoes to annoy one. Of course, up the river, among 
the barrens and in the mountains, twenty miles or so, 
there will be flies, and savage ones, too, but in the open 
country below through which the river takes its course, 
no annoyance from the usual pests is experienced. 

"One can pass two or three weeks very pleasantly 
and profitably at Northeast Margaree. The scenery is 
charming — in many places picturesque — and it is often 
grand. Forest-topped and green mountains environ the 
settlement completely. Lovely vistas of meadows and elm- 
studded valleys stretch away in all directions. Beautiful 
drives on eood roads are available, and with such fish- 
ing as may be had there the time passes delightfully. 

"The strange, almost unique French fishing station 
of Chetticamp on the Gulf shore twenty-five miles away, 
is one of the points to which an excursion should be 
taken, and the tourist will find it a novelty interesting 
in the extreme. The village consists of a long street of 




u 



278 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

fishermen's cabins, and the industry of cod fishino- and 
curing- by the French population is carried on with a 
truly Yankee vigor. The only landing place on this part 
of the Gulf shore is in a little cove that pierces the rough 
and rocky coast. The fishing boats when the wind is 
favorable enter the cove and pass up an inclined plane 
of logs over which they slide until they are safe from 
the waves, which are here often of great size. Near 
Ross's house is a very large cold spring, in which the 
Nova Scotia Fish Commissioners keep the salmon alive 
that are caught for breeding purposes until the spawn is 
ready for stripping. 

" Some idea of the value of the Marg^aree as a sal- 
mon river may be had when I state that in addition to 
the vast number of fish that are speared, netted and kill- 
ed in other ways, in a few pools in the neighborhood of 
this spring alone, there are caught and confined in it from 
three to five hundred large salmon every fall. These fish 
are netted in the river near by, the Government paying 
one dollar for each live fish to the captors. 

"About the loth of November the work of taking 
and fertilizinof the eQ-ors is beg^un. The esfors and milt are 
taken from the fish and stirred together in a pan. The 
fertile eggs become reddish and almost as hard as peas, 
while the infertile are white or of a pale fiesh color. 






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28o IVitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. \ ■ 

"For removal to the Government hatchery at Syd- 
ney the eggs are packed in wooden boxes about fifteen 
inches square, in moss and cotton wool. There is first 
deposited at the bottom of the box a layer of wet moss ; 
upon this is laid a stratum of cotton wool, among which 
the esi'gs are packed. Upon this is placed another layer 
of damp, almost wet moss, and another of the cotton with 
its quota of eggs, and upon this another layer of each. 
Upon this third layer is placed a partition of wire net- 
ting, or other porous material, the object being to secure 
the eggs from too great pressure, and upon this partition 
are placed another three layers of moss, cotton and eggs. 
The fry hatch about the last of April or first of May, 
and all the time between the period of their extrusion 
from the parent fish until they are hatched, the eggs re- 
quire constant and most intelligent attention. When the 
fry are about five weeks old they are distributed among 
the various rivers in the Province and left to shift for 
themselves. 

"The percentage of fry that is hatched artificially is 
vastly higher than it is by natural methods. Probably 
not five per cent, of the eggs by the latter method ever 
result in fry, while of those artificially propagated not 
more than five per cent, are ordinarily lost. 

"While at Northeast Margaree a pedestrian trip away 




o 



282 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

up the river will be something that the angler and tourist 
will enjoy. He Avill need to take an outfit for camping, 
as he will be gone several days. A most delightful view 
of the settlement and valley of the river for a number 
of miles down toward the sea may be had from the top 
of the hill called the Boar's Back. The painter could 
here find a subject worthy of his greatest skill. A few 
miles up the river, at what is called the Middle Section, 
is one of the most magnificent pools in the Provinces. 

"Continuing on up the river, the road soon becomes 
a mere path, and before many more miles are passed, the 
shores of the river become the only thoroughfare to be 
depended upon. At the Three Forks one pauses for the 
first camping place, and he may here take all the sea 
trout, and good ones, too, that he can dispose of. In 
fact the pools are now all filled with these delicious fish, 
with now and then a specimen of the higher colored but 
less gamy spotted trout. At every cast in the larger 
pools one is likely to rise a salmon, so that it is better 
to carry strong tackle along, and not depend on a light 
single-handed trout rod. 

"Near this point are the celebrated falls, two hun- 
dred feet in height, and beyond these the salmon do not 
pass. The ascent of the river may be continued for a 
number of miles further, but when you have reached a 



284 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

point where climbing is an effort of the most arduous 
kind and the river but a noisy rushing mountain stream, 
you will lose your enthusiasm. At Cape Clear, as it is 
■ called, you perforce come to a stop, and your ambition 
will lead you soon to turn about and return to the vil- 
lage. 

"If you ever , visit the island, and I hope you will, 
when you leave Northeast Margaree on your return home, 
I advise, by all means, instead of returning to Baddeck 
by the road over which you came, to drive to Lake Ains- 
lee and thence to Whykokomagh on the Little Bras D'Or, 
and thence by steamer to Baddeck. The scenery through- 
out most of this thirty odd miles to Whykokomagh is 
superb. 

"For the first five or six miles the road follows the 
windings of the river, and I do not remember of any- 
thing elsewhere that can compare with the beauty of the 
views to be had all along. 

"The river intervale stretches away for miles in all 
directions. Groups of graceful elms and maples dot it 
here and there most picturesquely, and the river in the 
sun's rays glistens like a stream of silver as it courses 
through the meadows. Beyond the valley, and stretching 
away in the distance until lost to sight in the blue hori- 
zon, green-topped mountains are seen on every side. 






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286 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

" The road is bordered by ehiis, maples and the vari- 
ous evergreen trees, and as it winds around the bases of 
the hills or ascends to their tops, it aftords the traveler 
most exquisite views of the grand panorama around liim. 
The river, as we draw nearer its mouth, grows wider and 
more stately, and becomes a stream of considerable size. 

"Near the forks of the Margaree the road to Lake 
Ainslee branches off from the main road and leads in an 
easterly direction. It follows the southeast branch of the 
river, and the varied panoramic surprises which continu- 
ally meet the eye arouse to enthusiasm the most indif- 
ferent. 

"About twenty miles from the Ross settlement the 
road passes the outlet of Lake Ainslee, which forms the 
head of the southeast branch. Here are numerous eel 
weirs. In these are captured many barrels of the fish 
lor which they are set, and it occurred to me that they 
might, if occasion required, be used for salmon also. 

" Passing the outlet the road now traverses the shore 
of the lake through a farming country almost devoid of 
scenic interest. On one side the lake stretches away as 
far as the eye can reach, the blue mountains in the hor- 
izon forming the boundary. On the other side pastures, 
fields and hills succeed each other monotonously. 

"For about five miles this tame and unattractive ride 



288 IVith Fly- Rod and C anient. 

continues, and it contrasts sharply with the wealth of pic- 
turesque beauty that had preceded it. 

" Near the head of the lake is a stream which emp- 
ties into it. Spanning this is a bridge which was, when 
we crossed it, so dilapidated as to be absolutely unsafe 
for loaded carriages, and we were obliged to alight and 
cross it afoot. Below this bridge is a large deep pool, 
worth a long journey to see. The water is as clear as 
crystal, from five to twenty feet in depth, and through- 
out the summer is absolutely packed with sea trout. 

"As I crossed the bridge I looked down into the 
water below, and such a sight I never before witnessed. 
The trout were in thousands, and large ones most of 
them were, too. This pool is celebrated throughout this 
portion of the island, and many fine catches have been 
taken from it. In years past It has been poached badly, 
and is even now somewhat, but not to the degree that 
it was a few years ago, a warden now almost constantly 
supervising it. I am told that in 1884 or 1885 a man 
'jigged' out of this pool in one day three barrels of those 
splendid fish ! 

"We stopped for the night at a farm house hotel 
near the bridge, kept by a Mr. McLean. Soon after our 
arrival, haunted by the vision of the host of trout I had 
seen, I took my rod and sauntered down to the bridge 



290 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

to ascertain whether or not they were interested in en- 
tomology. 

" I tried them with various hackles and other flies that 
I thought would please them, but they had been 'edu- 
cated.' They had seen similar offerings before, and for 
two hours I succeeded in landing only three or four small 
fish, evidently unsophisticated new-comers. 

"One or two of the neighboring farmers stood on 
the bridge talking to each other and to me in, I have 
no doubt, pure Gaelic, the language of most of the Cape 
Breton habitans, and evidently enjoying 'larks' at my ex- 
pense in casting over the fish so industriously. What- 
ever they said, I could not understand a word, the Gaelic 
tongue not having been mastered by me, so I paid no 
attention to them. After a while with a parting 'snicker' 
they left the bridge for their homes, and I was alone. 

"The sun now hung above the western horizon, a 
huge red sphere. The skies were covered with the most 
gorgeous clouds of golden and purple hues, and a soft 
balmy breeze sprung up, I ceased casting, and, taking 
a seat on one of the cross beams of the bridge, lighted 
a cigar and gave myself up to the enjoyment of the mag- 
nificent scene before me. The bridge was only a half 
dozen rods from the lake shore, and an unobstructed view 
could be had for the entire distance to the further shore. 




Enough for Breakfast, Anyway. (Inst. 



292 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

Across the bosom of the lake the rays of the setting sun 
swept in a broad pathway of crimson and gold. The 
azure of the sky, the gorgeous coloring of the clouds, the 
green forests and fields of the shore, all were mirrored 
on the placid water with the most beautiful effect. It 
was a scene to be remembered — entrancing, enrapturing. 

" I was enjoying it with all the artistic sense of the 
beautiful in nature that I possessed when I was awak- 
ened from my reverie by a heavy splash made by a large 
fish in the water below me. I looked down, and at that 
instant another fish came to the surface and with a splash 
seized a gnat that had dropped upon the water. 

"'Oh, ho, my beauties!' I exclaimed, 'it is a small fly 
you want, is it? I will try to accommodate you.' 

"Searching among my feathered treasures, I found a 
small black gnat, too small, I feared, to be strong enough 
to bear the strain of a heavy fish. However, I put it on 
my casting line and dropped it down upon the water, giv- 
ing it a little flutter at the same time. In an instant my 
reel was singing merrily as I struck the rise which came 
instantly, and I was fast to a good two-pound fish. 

"I was alone and was obliged to land the trout un- 
assisted. It was a difficult operation, for the fish was 
lively and strong, and I feared for my small hook. I 
passed the rod from hand to hand outside the beams of 



294 WitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

the bridge as I moved along to the beach where I had 
left my landing net. After I reached it I had to play 
the fish until it was completely conquered, for I had a 
small liofht rod, and this took considerable time. How- 
ever, after creelinof the trout I had a Qrood hour of twi- 
light left, which I improved by taking three more very 
nice fish, and some smaller ones. 

"When I showed my catch at the hotel it was pro- 
nounced 'very handsome,' but I doubt if any of those 
who saw it believed I took it with anything but the in 
that section popular jig. In fact I noticed one or two 
persons examining the bodies of the fish for 'hook marks.' 
All the fish that I took, although they had doubtless been 
in the pool for a long time, were as silvery bright as if 
fresh run. I was told that about the end of August the 
salmon come into this stream in considerable numbers. 

"A comfortable night is passed at McLean's, and after 
breakfast is disposed of the route is resumed. The drive 
around the upper end of the lake is picturesque, and the 
twelve miles to the Little Bras D'Or are soon passed, an 
occasional team now and then with its, to us, odd char- 
acteristics, giving a spice to the trip. 

"Arriving at Whykokomagh, pronounced by the na- 
tives 'Hogomagh,' the hospitable shelter of the Bay View 
Hotel is a welcome boon to the weary traveler, and the 



296 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

dinner that the hostess, good Mrs. Mitchell, serves, seems 
a royal feast after the plain fare that has been had on 
the island ; she knows what a good dinner is, how it 
should be cooked, and also how it should be served. 

"The steamer May Queen leaves Whykokomagh for 
Bacldeck at about two in the afternoon. From the steam- 
boat wharf you get a good view of the town, which is 
neither neat nor attractive. Up the Little Bras D'Or the 
passage is one of the most delightful. The scenery along 
the shore is varied, and this, together with the balmy, 
health-giving air, the placid water of the beautiful lake, 
the exhilarating motion of the boat, all make the sail en- 
joyable for every moment of the time. The steamer ar- 
rives at Baddeck at about seven in the evening, and land- 
ing here the tourist finds himself again on the main route 
of travel. 

" Come, William, wake up," I exclaimed to the guide, 
who had been nodding for the last ten minutes, and who 
was now on the point of going to sleep, "wake up and 
gather together our scattered things and put them under 
cover, it will rain before morning, sure. 

"Well, Frere," I continued, turning to my friend who 
was silently reclining by the fire, " I hope you are not 
asleep, too." 

"Not I," he replied, "on the contrary, I am wide 



298 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

awake, but I was thinking about Cape Breton, and your 
description of its beauties, and arranging- in my mind a 
visit to the island at a not distant day." 

" Make it, make it," I answered, leading the way to 
the tent, "you will enjoy it thoroughly and never regret 
it. It is worth a visit from you if for nothing more 
than to see the wealth of bird life that exists there. 
Warblers in myriads breed there; sparrows and finches 
of almost every kind haunt the fields and bushes in 
thousands. I counted four male rose-breasted grosbeaks 
in one little swamp a quarter of a mile in length, and 
dozens of those graceful little sylvan fairies, the redstarts. 
I never saw anything like the ornithological exuberance 
there is on that little island. The whole feathered wealth 
of a New England summer would not equal it, it seems 
to me. Why, I flushed an English snipe at almost every 
ten rods, every time I walked through a meadow, and 
this in the breeding season, too, and saw quite a variety 
of other shore birds that I always supposed bred nowhere 
south of Labrador. Yes, Frere," I added, as we settled 
ourselves for a night's sleep, "you must go to Cape Bre- 
ton to see bird life, if for nothing else." 

"I think I shall go," answered my friend, "and not 
alone to see the birds either, I hope to see some of the 
big salmon of the Margaree, also." 




Falls on the :Margaree Below Cape Clear. 



CHAPTER V, 



A Heavy Rain. • Sounds of the Night. • Fly-Fishing Sometimes Good 
IN A Storm. • A Great Catch. • Trout, Ducks and Grebes Extermi- 
nated BY Pickerel. • Ozone. • Another Salmon Hooked. • Hopes 
AND Fears. • Disappointment. • Hiram yvs a Fly-Caster. • More 
About Favorite Flies. • A Handsome Trio. • Hooked and Saved. 
Frere Gets Another Fish. • How the Country Boy Angles for a Sal- 
mon. • A Squirrel Skin Fly. • A Great Catch. • The Jacquet River 
in New Brunswick. • Barclay's Hotel and the Beach on the Baie des 
Chaleurs. • Good Sport in Prospect. • A Summons from Hiram. • Ex- 
citement. • A Long Struggle. • Congratulations. ■ A Pretty String 
of Sea Trout. • Frere also has Good Success. • Sending out Fish 
to Friends. • Trout Fishing at the Rangeleys. • Great Sport with 
Light Tackle. • Hatching Salmon Artificially a Great Success. • The 
Operations at Different PIatcheries. • Weir Owners Get the Cream. 
Our Anglers the First to Urge the Artificial Stocking of Rivers and 
Lakes. • Statistics of Salmon Fisheries. • Poachers Growing More 
Reckless. • Surface Fishing Cannot Exterminate the Fish. • Habits 
of the Salmon. • Conjectures Concerning the Identity of the Sea 
Trout. • All About Lakes Edward and St. John. • The Home of 
the Winninish. • Great Rivers in the North. • Is the Winninish a 
Land-Locked Salmon? • Dimensions and Weight of Schoodic Salmon. 



I WAS awakened in the night by the rain pelting down 
upon the tent in fierce, heavy showers. Our cover- 
ing was, as Wilham expressed it, "as dry as a house," 
so that we experienced no discomfort from the storm ; 
but the uproar of rain beating down upon the canvas, 




Cape Clear " on Margaree River, Cape Breton. 



302 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

and upon the foliage of the trees about us, and the sur- 
face of the water near b)-, kept me awake for a long 
time. I lighted a cigar, and, stretched upon our soft 
bed, listened to the sounds of the stormy night. 

Occasionally an old tree, decayed at its base, fell in 
the forest with a thunderino- crash. The wind, soupfhinof 
through the trees, at intervals between the din of the 
showers brought to the ear the musical tones of the rush- 
ing water in the neighboring rapids. A restless owl hov- 
ered near by, its lugubrious cry echoing back from the 
hillside across the river. 

To all these sounds I listened until my cigar was fin- 
ished, when, turning upon my side and covering my head 
with my felt camping hat, I fell asleep again, and did 
not wake until the sound of the guide's axe aroused us 
in the morning. 

Emerging from the tent we found that Hiram had 
arrived and with William was busy at the fire preparing 
breakfast. It is almost incredible how quickly the woods- 
man can start a fire, no matter how heavy the rain may 
be or how wet the fuel. The first thing is to find an 
old pine or cedar stump, and the resinous wood hewn 
therefrom will start a rousing fire in the worst of weather. 

The rain had ceased, but a heavy fog hung over the 
river and on the sides of the hills about us. 



304 With Fly-Rod and Camera, 

"What's the clay to be, Hiram?" I exclaimed, as 1 
stood by the cheerful fire which was now crackling- among 
the pine and cedar logs, of which the guides had pro- 
cured a liberal supply. 

"I think it will be a wet day, sir," he answered, 
"showery like; not a heavy rain." 

"Yes," added William, who was busy slicing bacon 
and washing potatoes for breakfast, "it will be showery 
and dark ; not the best day ever was for fishing, although 
ye can try these two pools, if ye like." 

"Yes, we will do so after breakfast," said Frere, who 
was also enjoying the grateful warmth of the fire, "al- 
though it's not the best day, as you say." 

"It mio-ht be worse though," Hiram exclaimed, as he 
gave the fire a fresh adjustment and hung the tea-kettle 
to boil, suspending it from a stake of green wood. "I 
don't like to fly-fish in a storm, for I ginerally find that 
the fish won't rise." 

"Yes," I replied, "it is true as a rule, but sometimes 
the best fishing is had when the rain drops come patter- 
ing upon the surface of the water. One of the biggest 
catches I ever made was on a perfectly hateful day. It 
was the 17th of June in 1859 or '60 that this happened. 
It was on the Magalloway River in Maine, at the pool 
just below Aziscohos Falls. I stood on one rock all the 



3o6 IVith Fly- Rod and Camei^a. 

time, and landed m)' own fish, being- without a guide. 
During the whole day there was a succession of snow 
squalls, hail storms and rain ; certainly a worse day for 
fishing could not be imagined, yet I took over a bushel 
of spotted trout from the pool, using brown or red hackles. 
I never saw fish so eager. At every cast a half dozen 
or more w^ould dart for the fly, and I was busy all the 
time." 

"Small trout, I suppose," said Frere ; "they are often 
crazy like that." 

"Not so small, either," I answered; "many of them 
would Aveigh two pounds apiece and over. They were a 
magnificent lot, and they furnished a dinner for half the 
people in the settlement below at Wilson's Mills." 

"That was good fishing," exclaimed Hiram, "although 
we have beaten it badly among sea trout, hey, William?" 

"We have, indeed," assented the other guide. 

"That may be," said I, "but not in a bad storm, 
boys, not in a heavy storm." 

"No, sir, you're right there," replied Hiram, "it was 
o-ood fishine for brook trout, altogether ; it must have 
been a fine pool, that." 

"Yes, it was a splendid one," I answered; "the falls 
were steep and high, so high in fact that the trout could 
not ascend them, and they gathered in the pool below in 



3o8 IVith Fly- Rod a] id Camera. 

great numbers. That was long ago, however; I doubt 
if a trout could be found there now." 

"Why so?" asked Frere. "It seems incredible that 
a large river could be absolutely exhausted." 

"The trout have been exterminated below the falls, 
not by fishermen, but by those fresh-water sharks, the 
pickerel, which have ascended the river from Lake Um- 
baeog- below." 

"The trout stands no chance against pickerel, I am 
told," said Frere. 

"No, no chance whatever," I answered, "the voracity 
of the pickerel is something astonishing. In the Schoo- 
dic Lakes these abominable vermin not only devour the 
young land-locks, but they are absolutely driving away the 
wild ducks that used to breed there in immense num- 
bers. * The pickerel should be outlawed." 

"It must be a great pest," said Frere. 

"Well, gentlemen, your breakfast is ready," said Wil- 
liam, pointing to the abundant viands that were served 
upon our rude table. 

"All right," I answered, "we will surround it at once." 

* Geo. A. Boardman of Calais, Me., writes: "Ducks and grebes that used to 
breed so abundantly on our river, in consequence of the pickerel eating up their 
young have nearly deserted it as a breeding place. They also eat the young of 
domestic ducks, and have proved so destructive to them that people up the river have 
abandoned trying to raise them." 



3IO JVith Fly- Rod and Camera, 

A grood half hour was devoted to the meal, and we 
enjoyed it thoroughly. 

"What is it, Frere, that gives us such ferocious ap- 
petites?" I asked, as I helped myself to a third trout. 

"Ozone," he exclaimed, impaling another fish to keep 
even with me. 

"Ozone," said William, "what's that? I thought it 
was our fresh air and the exercise that made the hunger." 

"All the same, William," I said, "all the same thing; 
another dipper of tea, please." 

After breakfast was disposed of we started for the 
head of the lower pool, about twenty rods down the beach 
from the camp. Frere gave me the first chance at the 
pool, saying he would try his luck later in the pool be- 
low us. 

I began casting, but, although I got out considerable 
line and fished carefully, I did not succeed in 'lifting' a 
fish, and after a ten minutes' exercise with the rod we 
crossed at the head of the pool for the beach on the 
other side. 

Here I began casting again, moving down the stream 
a foot or two with every cast, covering all the water as 
I progressed. I dropped my fly at length behind a jut- 
ting rock on the other side, and with a big swirl a sal- 
mon took the lure and settled in the pool. 



JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 311 

What a moment it is after a salmon is hooked in 
which we wait for his first rush ! The nerves tingle, the 
heart almost ceases to beat ; we brace every muscle and 
prepare for the battle that we know is inevitable. The 
pressure is put upon the rod, the line begins to move 
slowly at first, as if the fish disdains to notice the frail 
fibre which holds him ; then, with a mighty dash, with 
the speed of thought, he spins out the line, making the 
reel fairly scream at the rapidity of the motion. 

The salmon to which I was fast was a strong, ac- 
tive fish, and his first run took out at least seventy yards 
of line. 

"Bring the canoe, quick, William!" I shouted, "we 
may have to follow him down the rapids." 

Almost as soon as I had finished my sentence the 
canoe was at my side, and, hurrying into it, we prepared 
to follow the fish if it went out of the pool. It was a 
beautiful pool to kill a salmon in, having an abundant 
depth of water all over it ; it was about two hundred 
yards in length, and at the lower end shoaled consider- 
ably before reaching the rapids, but it was deep enough 
even .there to float a heavily-loaded canoe. 

The distance to the next pool below was only about 
one hundred rods. Tearing down into the shoal water 
the salmon seemed on the point of making for the rapids. 



312 PVith Fly- Rod and CcDiiera. 

Shouting- to the g-uide to follow him 1 held the fish with 
as firm a hand as I could, watching with apprehension 
my line rapidly disappearing from my reel. One hundred 
yards had spun out, and twenty more before the salmon 
concluded to turn back. Our canoe had started to follow 
the fish, and this gave the line a fearful bight or slack 
when the salmon darted back into the pool, and never 
before have I made my big reel fly as I did in wind- 
ing up that slack. I succeeded in getting it packed on 
the spool again solidly and in even layers. 

Unquestionably, there are more salmon lost by foul- 
ing an unevenly, slovenly reeled line than from any other 
cause. Invariably, if a line is loose anywhere on the reel, 
the fish will cause it to overrun, and then throw a sort 
of half hitch on the reel, and this done the casting line 
parts as if it were a cotton thread. I have seen so many 
fish lost by this carelessness, and also by the line fouling 
in that infernal implement, the wheel turned by a crank 
instead of by a handle in the revolving plate, that I am 
cautious in avoiding both fruitful sources of expletives and 
despair. 

Winding in the line carefully, yet with the greatest 
possible speed, I very soon had it tautened again on the 
fish, which was now in the pool not ten yards from the 
canoe. Feeling the lift of the rod, the salmon darted 



fs^sisss^Mms' 







314 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

away again, this time up the pool, leaping three times 
in quick succession, and throwing the water away up on 
the rocks on the side of the pool ; following this he spun 
back and forth in short nervous runs, and then settled in 
the deep hole at the foot of the upper rapids. Here I 
followed by walking beside him on the beach, and gave 
him the butt for all I dared to, inviting him at the same 
time to "come in out of the wet." In response he darted 
into the air, shaking his head like a black bass, and so 
close to me that I could have struck him with the tip 
of my rod when I lowered it as he fell back into the 
pool. 

"Ye may give him the butt again, sir," said William, 
" 'tis only a small fish, not over ten pounds, though he's 
mighty lively; he'll soon tire now." 

I followed this advice and kept the fish moving, and 
soon In acknowledgment of defeat he turned on his side 

o 

on the water. 

"Good enough, he's done!" exclaimed Hiram, who 
stood with gaff in hand on the beach near me; "bring 
him In this way, and I'll reach him." 

GIvinof a slant to the rod and liftinof at the same 
time, I sheered the fish over toward the point on the 
beach where the guide stood. Nearer and nearer to the 
shore it came, until it was within six feet of the end of 



3i6 With Fly- Rod and Camem. 

the gaff, when the sahiion, perhaps catching- a glimpse of 
his foe, or possibly touching a stone on the bottom of 
the pool, gave a sudden twist and jerk, and falling back 
into the water, disappeared a free fish. 

For an instant we stood ao-hast, and then Frere ex- 
claimed, "How in the name of goodness did that fish 
get away? I thought he was safe, absolutely." 

"He was till the hook broke," said William. 

"I don't think it broke," I exclaimed, as I reeled in 
my line, " I think it tore out of the fish." 

"No, the cast broke close to the fly," said Hiram, 
who had meanwhile seized the line and was examining^ it ; 
"no, thunder! the loop pulled out of the fly!" 

It was even so; there was the casting line in per- 
fect condition, and at its end was the loop which had 
been fastened to the fly. 

"Confound it all," I exclaimed, "why didn't I test 
it as I should have clone, before fishing." 

"Yes," you should have," said Frere, "I find that 
there is almost as much danger of a loop pulling out, un- 
less I tie it myself, as there is of a casting line parting." 

"Well," said I, "it's a wonder I held the salmon as 
long as I did ; but I should hardly have thought such 
an accident could have happened, for it was a genuine 
Forrest fly." 



With Flv-Rod and Camera. 



6^ I 



"I have known such a thing to occur before," he re- 
pHed, "and we can draw a moral from the accident, and 
that is to never use 'store flies' if we can help it," 

"Well, Mr. Frere," said Hiram, "the fish is lost, and 
we may as well try for another, and that pretty soon, for 
there'll be more rain by and by." 

"Very good," replied Frere, "we will go down to 
two or three of the pools below, and see what our for- 
tunes will be there." 

"You take the canoe down, Frere, vv'ith W^illiam," 
said I, "and I will put in an hour or two with the 
trout." 

"All right," he replied, and stepping into the canoe 
with the guide, soon disappeared from our view down the 
river. 

"Hiram," said I, as we took our stand upon the 
beach close to the place where I had hooked the sal- 
mon, ' you take the rod and fish awhile, and I will have 
a smoke." 

"All right," he replied, as I handed him my tackle, 
"perhaps I will hook a salmon, there's plenty in it." 

I took a seat upon a rock on the beach and watched 
the guide. I have met fishermen who would never per- 
mit their oruides to handle their rods for a cast ; and 

O 

have also seen others who made their guides do all the 



3i8 WitJi Fly- Rod and Camera. 

casting, contenting themselves with playing the fish that 
their men had hooked for them. Neither of these classes 
have the right spirit of the true sportsman. 

It is pretty dull music for the intelligent guide to 
watch the angler all clay long, and day after day at that, 
cast and hook and play the salmon, without being allowed 
to even participate in the sport further than to gaff the 
fish, and I hold it is selfish in the employer to begrudge 
the man a chance now and then to do a little of the 
fishing; that is, if the guide is an expert, which most 
guides are. The sportsman who makes the guide do 
all the casting and hooking the fish for the employer to 
play is a lazy man, and a poor angler. It is something 
to rise a salmon and hook him neatly and artistically, 
something that every one cannot do, and it is asking and 
expecting a good deal from human nature to require the 
guide to relinquish the rod to another man to play the 
fish which he had not the patience or skill to hook, 

Hiram was an expert with the rod, and it afforded 
me great pleasure to see him cover the pool, placing his 
fly as lightly as the fall of a feather wherever he wished. 
After a short time he ceased casting and said, as he re- 
moved the fly from my leader, and handed it to me, 
"The water is growing darker every minute from the 
heavy rain there has been up the river, and in a deep 



320 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

pool like this, when the water is colored, a larger and 
brighter fly is the thing." 

I gave him his choice from my book, and selecting 
an elegant Popham he attached It to the casting line. 

Right here I want to say to every salmon fisherman, 
that in every twelve flies always have one Popham, and 
if you follow my advice you will vary the other eleven 
about as follows: Three of the silver doctors (two sizes), 
two of the Jock Scott, one butcher, one Durham ranger, 
one royal coachman, two of the fairy (two colors), one 
black dose. This variety will meet the requirements of 
all conditions of light and water, and they are among the 
most killinp" flies to be had. Of course, a selection of 
hackles and other trout flies is essential. A single dozen 
will last only a short time, but the dozens taken on an 
outing should, in my opinion, contain about the variety 
I have named. 

Hiram went to the head of the pool and began cast- 
ing, and keeping back from the water, with a long line, 
worked down the stream, covering thoroughly every foot 
of the water with his fly. How neatly he dropped the 
fly here and there upon the surface of the pool ; it was 
a pleasure to see the performance, even if it did not rise 
a fish. At length the fly fell upon the identical spot 
where I hooked my fish a half hour before, when like 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 321 

a phantom I saw a grayish form arise to the surface, and 
in an instant a salmon was hooked. 

" I thought one would come up there," said Hiram, 
reeling in the line and preparing for the contest, "it's the 
spot where they all lie," 

The fish went to the bottom for a moment, evidently 
not feeling any inconvenience or pain from the hook, but 
the instant that the strain of the rod was put upon the 
line, the reel gave a shriek and the fish darted down the 
pool, showing itself in the air two or three times in quick 
succession. 

" Here, sir, take the rod," exclaimed the guide, as he 
stepped to my side and offered me the tackle, "the fish 
is small, but very lively." 

"Keep the rod, Hiram," I said, "and I Avill watch 
you kill this fish." 

I confess that my fingers fairly ached to take the rod 
from the guide and kill the salmon myself, but I con- 
quered the desire, although I am free to say that I have 
not always refused such an unselfish offer. 

The salmon was a short, thick, broad fish, and from 
the shape evidently a female, and of about ten pounds' 
weight. Turning back into the deep water, after taking 
out fifty or sixty yards of line, she settled to the bottom, 
and began jiggering right earnestly to release herself from 



322 With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

the barbed steel. Hiram at once put a strain on my 
split-bamboo that I did not fancy. 

"Remember, Hiram," I exclaimed, "my rod isn't one 
of those heavy greenhearts that you are used to." 

"No trouble," he answered, still lifting severely, "the 
salmon's jiggering and boring, and I want to get her head 
out o' that ; the rod's good for her any day." 

The fish soon yielded to the strain, and, coming to 
the surface, began to circle about in a confused way. 

"She's most done, already," I exclaimed. 

"Yes," replied the guide, "the females, as a gineral 
thino-,, haven't got the fight in them that. the males have; 
they give up quicker." 

Another fierce rush down the pool, followed by two 
or three leaps, however, showed that she was still dis- 
posed to continue the contest, but her strength was not 
sufficient to cope with the lift of the pliant but persist- 
ent rod. Shorter grew her struggles, nearer and nearer 
she drew as the reel wound in the line, and soon she 
lay upon her side in mute defeat. Handing me the rod 
Hiram took the gaff, and as I stepped upon the beach, 
drawine the salmon after me, with a quick dart the gaff 
lifted her from the river, and she was conquered. 

"'Tis a purty fish, and a fresh run," said Hiram, 
lifting the silvery beauty from the beach. 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 323 

"Yes," I replied, "and she was landed in good style, 
too." 

"Middlin', sir, middlin'," he answered, laying the fish 
upon some brakes and leaves, "and now what shall we 
do?" 

"We'll rest the pool for a few minutes," I replied, 
"and then I'll try for a few sea trout," 

After a few minutes' pause I changed my fly for a 
large gray hackle, and then taking my stand on the beach 
began casting. Across the pool, hovering over a patch 
of sandy bottom, was a bunch of sea trout, and dropping 
my fly above them, I was soon fast to a handsome fish 
of good two pounds' weight. After a short play it was 
landed, and in a few moments another and another of 
equal size were brought to the landing net. 

"That's a pretty trio, Hiram," I said, as he killed the 
last of the three and laid them side by side. 

"Yes, sir," added the guide, "many's the man would 
go far to take them in a whole day." 
' "You're right," I replied, removing my hackle and af- 
fixing to my line a silver doctor, "and now for a salmon I" 

As I spoke I made a careless throw into the old spot, 
without the expectation of getting a rise after all the dis- 
turbance that had been made in the pool ; but who can 
say what the caprice of the scaly beauties will be ; hardly 



o 



24 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 



had m)' fly touched the water when it was seized and 
borne to the bottom. 

"Ah, ha," exclaimed the guide, "that's quick work." 

Reehng in, and securing- a taut Hne, I hfted on the 
rod. For a second or two the fish seemed undecided, 
but it was only for that length of time, for giving a half 
dozen jumps in as many directions, it started up the pool 
with a rush. 

"It's nothing but a grilse," I exclaimed, giving it the 
butt; "we'll not waste any time unnecessarily on him." 

The grilse is a lively fellow, but easily conquered. 
When first hooked he is apparently all over the pool at 
once, darting and leaping in all directions, but, if the line 
does not foul, and the fish is watched and not handled 
too roughly — for its mouth is very tender and the hook 
often tears out — he is soon conquered on a salmon rod. 
I have often thought it would be great sport playing one 
on a licrht rod, but have never had the opportunity of 
trying it. 

In a few minutes my grilse was in the landing net, 
and soon it was laid by the side of the rest of our fish. 
At that moment the canoe appeared in sight, ascending 
the quick water at the foot of the pool ; and as he passed 
the crown of the rapids, William held up a single finger 
as a signal that one salmon had been taken. 



326 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"It's a nice fish, Frere," I said, as the canoe touched 
the beach; "what's the weight?" 

"Thirteen pounds," he rephed. "What luck have you 
had?" 

I pointed to the ghttering prizes on the brakes and 
ferns. 

"Good, good!" exclaimed my friend, with the fervor 
of the true sportsman. " I am glad you had such fine 
sport." 

"Thanks," I replied, "but I do not claim all; Hiram 
killed the salmon." 

"It's a pretty catch, anyway," said William, "but we 
had better be getting to camp, it's going to pour." 

Hurrying into the canoe we sped to the upper pool, 
and barely reached the shelter of the canvas, ere the 
downpour began. I do not remember of ever seeing a 
heavier storm ; it was simply terrific. While the tempest 
was raging we kept snugly ensconced in the tent. Frere 
occupied the time in tying flies, while I with a cigar and a 
novel had no difficulty in entertaining myself. The guides 
seated near Frere watched with keen interest his manipu- 
lations of the fioss and feathers and tinsel which he used 
in the manufacture of his winged lures. 

"That'll be a neat fly in the water, and a killing 
one, too," said William, as he took a fly that Frere had 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 327 

finished, and examined it. "I don't know why, but any 
tiy that has in it jungle cock and golden pheasant feath- 
ers is sure to take." 

"Yes," replied Frere, "there seems to be something 
peculiarly attractive in the jungle cock hackle ; and a.lmost 
any combination of it with the feathers of the ruff and 
crest of the pheasant is successful." 

"Always remembering, however," I exclaimed, "that 
a good deal depends on the man who offers it to the 
fish." 

"Of course," he replied, "the best fly, if cast by a 
novice, is generally no better than the poorest." 

"It's not the nice flies, only, that kill, though," said 
Hiram, " I've seen many a salmon taken with a few feath- 
ers picked up in a barnyarel and tied to a hook in a loose 
w^ay." 

"Yes," added William, "and with only a bush pole,* 
too, hey, Hiram?" 

"How was that?" I asked, "I don't see how the fish 
could be played on such a rod." 

"Oh, the country boy does not play his salmon," said 
Frert2 ; "as soon as the fish is hooked the boy throws 
his pole into the water, and lets the fish do its own play- 
ing." 

* Sapling rod. 



328 IVitk Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"Oh, I see," I answered, "and the pole always hangs 
to him." 

"Yes," said Hiram, "and it's surprising- how soon the 
salmon is done for; it keeps him moving, but acts like 
a clog to a bear trap ; it holds the fish just enough to 
bother it and wear it out." 

"And it's not often the salmon gets away, either," 
added William. 

"With such a sure method of taking a fish," I said, 
"your country people ought to be satisfied; it's a fair 
kind of fishing, but using the spear and net is murder- 
ous." 

"That's so," exclaimed Hiram, "and no one would 
begrudge them a few fish taken this way, either. I've 
caught them so myself." 

"Speaking of rough flies being successful," I said, 
after a short pause, " I shall never forget how we took 
the sea trout two years ago, Hiram." 

"How was that?" inquired Frere. 

"With a piece of squirrel skin tied on a bait hook," 
I answered. "We were up to Kettle Hole Pool on the 
Jacquet, and found it packed full of sea trout; but they 
paid n6 more attention to my flies — and I offered them 
some nice ones, too— than they would to so many sticks; 
we tried everything, but they would not stir. At length 



330 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

Hiram took out of his pocket the skin of a flying squir- 
rel, and cutting off a piece covered witli gray and white 
hair, he fastened it to my hook. It was my first ex- 
perience with such a bait, but I cast, and on the instant 
hooked a big fish. . We had a lively time of it for an 
hour or two, in fact Hiram had all the weight of fish 
he wanted to carry out, over the five miles of rough 
road through the woods, up hill and clown, that we had 
to travel." 

"Yes," said Hiram, "'twas a good catch, and I was 
ijlad to oret it, for it's discourag^in^r to take such a lonpf 
tramp for nothing." 

"The Jacquet is a fine trout river," said William, 
after a short pause. 

"Yes, and for salmon, too," I added, "they are not 
as big as the Restigouche or Cascapedia salmon, but they 
are nice fish, and it's a beautiful stream." 

"Tell me about it," said Frere, "I have often de- 
sired to fish it, but was not acquainted with either of 
the lessees." 

" I wish I had known it," I replieci, " I had an in- 
terest in it for five years, but it is now owned by a 
party who is very close of it. Fortunately there are a 
few free pools on it still." 

"Yes," I continued, lighting a fresh cigar, "I have 



332 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

had many an enjo)'able outing on the Jacquet. On ar- 
riving in the cars I go at once to Barclay's Hotel, and 
make that house my headquarters. It is near the sta- 
tion, and only about half a mile from the mouth of the 
river. It is a snug, cozy little house, and its location 
on the southern shore of the beautiful Baie cles Chaleurs 
is delightful. Many, many happy days have I spent be- 
neath Its hospitable roof. Its proprietor knows how to 
entertain the tired and hungry, for he provides as good 
a table as one can wish to see, and the service is first- 
class in every way. At Barclay's the sea bathing is un- 
surpassed, the house standing but a few rods from the 
shore. The beach extends for miles, and along it are 
to be found scenic beauties that would delight the eye 
of the artist. 

"The best way to get to the river is to drive from 
Barclays to the farms of the Millers at Sunnyside. They 
are splendid guides and canoemen, and know every inch 
of the river. They are employed by the lessee of the 
river as guardians, and therefore know which pools are 
free and which are covered by lease. Engage the Millers 
to carry you in their canoe clown the twelve or thirteen 
miles of the river from their farms to the mouth, and 
let you fish such pools as you can without infringing on 
the rio^hts of the lessee. 



334 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"Close to their house is the Bier Hole Brook Pool, 
and here you will take the canoe on your trip down the 
river. It is a large basin, and there is almost always a 
salmon or two lying in it. Just below that pool is the 
Long- Pool, and you slide down to it through the rapids 
in a few seconds. This is a magnificent pool, one of 
the best on the river. I counted over forty salmon in 
it on one occasion, and have killed a good many fish in 
it first and last. It is one of the easiest fished pools 
on the river, a beach on one shore giving the angler 
fine casting stands, from which he may cover the entire 
basin. 

" Below this are a number of beautiful pools, the best 
of which are the Upper and Lower Horse Shoe pools, 
the Jarvis Pool, Ward's Pool, Rock Pool, Franker's (or 
Francois) Pool, the White Rapids, Hell Gate, Red Cliff 
and Windmill Rock pools, and Flat Rock Pool. Some 
of these are free, and you will find the run down the 
river delightful even if you do not fish, for the scenery 
the whole length is picturesque and beautiful. 

"Jarvis Pool is one of the finest on the river. I do 
not remember the time I have cast in it when I did not 
get fast to a salmon. It seems a favorite also with large 
sea trout, and many is the time my tent has been pitched 
on its shores. It is picturesque in its surroundings, and 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 335 

is a delightful spot for either an artist or fisherman to 
visit. 

"But, Hiram," I exclaimed, "the storm is o;one by, 
and the sky is brightening! Come, it's past one o'clock, 
and I'm famished; let's have dinner." 

It did not take the experienced guides long to start 
a rousing fire, and in a very few minutes the prepara- 
tions for dinner were in full operation. 

The clouds were opening and drifting away toward 
the east, and the rays of the sun ever and anon poured 
down upon us. The prospect was good for fair weather, 
and as the rain had very perceptibly raised and darkened 
the river, we felt sure of good sport. 

With more than sportsmen's appetites we attacked the 
dinner that the guides served for us. It was abundant 
in variety and quantity, and we did full justice to it. 

After dinner had been disposed of, Frere and Wil- 
liam started for some of the pools above our camp, while 
Hiram and I busied ourselves in drying our wet clothes, 
airing the blankets by spreading them on low bushes, and 
in tidying the camp generally. 

After this was done, I took a stroll into the woods 
a short distance, where, finding a tempting nook, I spread 
my rubber blanket on the ground, and, lying upon it, in- 
dulged in a delightful rest. 



336 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

It was a beautiful afternoon, a soft, delicious breeze 
was blowing' from the southwest, bringing from the for- 
ests the delicate odor which always follows a rain in the 
woods. The clouds, which had broken into small patches 
of gray and gold and crimson, floated lazily across the 
valley. No sound was heard save the rustling of the foli- 
ao-e, the eurele and rattle of the water in the rapids, and 
the occasional song of some feathered denizen of the for- 
est, or the querulous chatter of the squirrel. I love such 
surroundings — I adore the woods and the grand old hills. 
I had passed an hour or more in the seclusion of my 
quiet nook, when I was startled by a shout from Hiram, 
whom I had left at camp. Hurrying out of the woods, 
I found him standing on the beach near the head of the 
pool. 

"Come here, sir," he said, "and I will show you a 
pretty sight." 

"What is it?" I asked, as I approached him. 

"Come easy," he said, "and look." 

Cautiously drawing near, and examining the water 
carefully, I descried the objects that had attracted his at- 
tention. Three salmon were lying in the edge of the 
eddy below the rapids, two of them small fish, each, per- 
haps, of about eight pounds' weight. The others were 
considerably larger. Side by side they lay, and, save an 



338 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

occasional flirt of the tail, and the regular motion of the 
gills, they were almost motionless. 

" I think we'll get one of those chaps soon," said 
Hiram, as he retreated from the pool. 

"We'll wait a while, for they've seen us; but by wad- 
ing into the rapids above, and making a long cast down 
over them, we'll lift one, sure." 

''They must have run in since morning," I replied, 
taking my rod from its supports, and examining my cast- 
ing line and fly. " I cast all over the pool before din- 
ner and saw nothing." 

"Yes, they may have come up from the pool below 
us," said Hiram. "'Tis but a few rods, and they may 
have run up when we went over the pool with the canoe, 
after killing the other fish." 

After my casting line had had a few minutes' soak- 
ing, I removed my old fly, and put on a good-sized Dur- 
ham raneer that had never been wet. Wadino- into the 
river above the rapids, and keeping out of sight of the 
fish, I began casting across the river, lengthening my line 
at every cast, until I had enough out to enable me to 
reach the spot where the salmon were lying. Then, with 
a long reach, I softly put my fly, as nearly as I could 
judge, upon the right spot ; and that I had calculated cor- 
rectly was shown by an exclamation from Hiram, and the 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 339 

swirl of one of the fish that rose and just missed the lure. 
I drew in my line for a minute or two, for a salmon 
will not often rise immediately a second time, although 
it sometimes does. 

I have time and again watched them when rising to 
another's fly, and if they miss they settle back into their 
resting place, and if the fly then immediately passed over 
them, they paid no attention to it. 

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but I 
am speaking of the general habit of the fish. It is, there- 
fore, well to wait a short time after a salmon has been 
lifted before casting for it again, although the long rest 
that some writers advocate is generally unnecessary. 

Of course, a great deal depends on the depth and 
force of the water; a salmon rising from a deep pool, 
in a strong river, requiring more of a rest than one in 
shoaler water. The vagaries and caprices of the fish are 
such that the angler has to use his own judgment in every 
instance. 

I gave my fish five minutes' rest, and then running 
out the line in the air until the right length was out, I 
dropped the fly in the eddy where the fish rose, and, al- 
lowing it to sink two or three inches, eave it a drao- in 
short jerks across the current. In an instant I saw a 
grayish form arise from the depths, and simultaneously 



340 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

with its seizing the fly I struck. "Whir-r-r" went the 
reel, as the sahiion settled in the middle of the pool, and 
I quickly left my position in the rushing- waters above 
the rapids for a more secure footing on the beach. 

The pool was a glorious one in which to fight a sal- 
mon. It was broad and deep, and free from driftwood 
and those other obstructions which the angler dreads. It 
was a pool that gave "a fair field and no favor," and 
the salmon that could effect his escape in it deserved his 
freedom. My fish for a few seconds remained motionless 
at the bottom of the pool ; but when the tension of the 
line was put upon it, it gave three or four angry shakes 
of the head, and a short run, and then, instead of dart- 
ing about and leaping, after the usual manner of its kind, 
it began to root and thrust its nose among the rocks in 
the most pig-like manner. 

"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Hiram, "that chap has been 
hooked before this year ; he's up to a dodge or two ! " 

I was determined that the salmon should not carry 
on this system of tactics if I could prevent it, and, there- 
fore, reeling in the line all I could, I began to advance 
the butt of the rod, lifting all that the casting line would 
bear. The fish, feelino- the increased strain, bore down 
heavier and heavier, until it seemed to ' be actually stand- 
ing on its head on the bottom of the river. My rod, 



342 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

strong as it was, could not overcome the resistance, and 
for at least five minutes we remained in that position, the 
salmon jiggering to its heart's delight, and I trying to 
bring it to the surface. At length, with a mighty rush, 
the fish changed its plan of action, and began a series 
of runs and leaps that caused my heart to throb and my 
nerves to tinorle. The salmon seemed to be all over the 
pool at once, and moving with the speed of electricity. 
Leaping into the air within ten yards of my standing 
place, it seemed hardly to have struck the water before 
it was again in the air away down the pool one hundred 
yards distant. Then, before I could recover half of my 
line, working as rapidly as possible, the fish was "jump- 
ing three ways at once," as Hiram afterward said in de- 
scribing it, at the head of the pool just below the falls. 
Hardly could I pack upon the reel twenty yards of line, 
before "whi-z-z-z!" out went thirty more, and I began to 
watch with apprehension the scant supply left upon the 
barrel of the reel. 

"It's a lively fish, altogether," exclaimed the guide; 
"it jumps like a grilse. I think it must be hooked foul 
to show such endurance." 

"No, it's hooked all right," I replied, getting in a 
word here and there, as I worked with all possible speed 
at the reel, "but it's one of the pluckiest fighters I ever 



JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 343 

struck. Get the canoe ready," I exclaimed a moment 
later, "if the fish goes down the rapids we must follow 
it instantly." 

Hiram soon had the birch by my side and held it 
ready for me to step into, if necessary. But now the 
salmon quieted down and settled into the pool away over 
on the other side. I lost no time in packing the line 
again on the reel as evenly and solidly as possible. It 
was now apparent that the fish was tired and was will- 
ing to take a rest ; but that was something I did not 
propose to give it, and as soon as possible I gave it the 
full strain of the rod. "Whir-r" went the reel again in 
a wild scream, as the salmon started down the pool full 
speed for the rapids. 

"Jump into the canoe, quick!" shouted Hiram; "the 
salmon will take down the rapids ! " 

Into the canoe I scrambled as quickly as I could, 
and hardly was I in before the guide, with a mighty 
push, sent the birch spinning down the pool toward the 
quick water below. The salmon had taken out all of 
seventy-five yards of line before we started, and was go- 
ing at a fearful speed down to the lower pool, and it 
was only by the most herculean effort that Hiram could 
speed the canoe through the rough water fast enough to 
reach the pool, to which we were rushing, before the line 



344 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

was exhausted. In fact, when we reached the still water 
where the salmon had settled, there were hardly a dozen 
yards left of my good one hundred and fifty on the reel. 
Jumping out of the canoe as soon as she touched the 
beach, I began taking in the line as fast as I could, but 
it seemed an age before I had it again on the spool. 
The moment I got my line shortened I gave the fish 
the butt, for my blood was up, and there was to be no 
trifling. Gracious ! how the fish responded. Giving three 
leaps inside a radius of ten yards, it seemed as fresh as 
ever. '^ 

"Upon my word," I exclaimed, "it is certainly a hard 
nut." 

"Indeed it is," replied Hiram. "It's another male 
fish, and a dandy to fight." 

After an additional half dozen leaps and rushes the 
salmon settled down into the pool again, and, apparently, 
from the vibration of the line, adopted its original tactics 
of trying to rub out the hook, although we could not 
see it in the deep water where it was now lying. I 
began to be nervous. The hard usage my tackle had 
received in the half hour's fight must have weakened it, 
and I now be^an to fear that at the last moment the 
cast would part or something else give way and my fish 
would depart. "Go out with the canoe, Hiram," I ex- 



WitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 345 

claimed, "and stir him up. We must keep him moving 
now or he is lost." 

The oruide took the canoe out over the salmon, and, 
thrusting the setting pole down its full length, moved it 
about so as to startle the fish. And startle it he did most 
emphatically; for, with a frantic rush, it darted up the 
pool and into the rapids above. How the reel screamed 
as the line ran out ! I started up the beach on a run, 
giving the fish the butt, and holding my thumb on the 
reel all I dared, but to no avail. I could not seem to 
hold or check the speed of the salmon at all, and I was 
about to give up in despair, when, just as the line was 
nearly exhausted, I felt a cessation of the strain, the rod 
straightened and the line fell back with a loose sag. 

"He's gone, Hiram!" I exclaimed in disgust, drop- 
ping the butt of the rod; "he's got away!" 

"Reel in, quick!" shouted the guide, excitedly; "he's 
still on, but played out ! Reel in as fast as you can ! " 

I never took in a line before as rapidly as I did 
that one. At the same time I began retreating down the 
beach as fast as I could move, and I soon found that 
Hiram was right. The fish, just before surmounting the 
crown of the rapids, had found the current and the strain 
of my rod too much to overcome at that late period of 
the fio-ht. I reeled in the line as the salmon came down 



346 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

the stream, and when it passed back into the pool it 
plainly showed that the fight was over. With a steady 
strain on the rod I prevented the fish from getting its 
head down, and in a very short time it turned on its 
side and permitted me to draw it to the shore, where 
the gaff soon gave the finish to the struggle. 

"'Tis a nice fish, altogether," said the guide, laying 
the salmon upon the pebbles; "not so very large, but 
deep and strong." 

"Yes, he was strong enough, and a good fighter," I 
replied, as I wiped the perspiration from my face; "I'm 
about as played out as the fish was." 

"'Tis a nice fish, altogether!" repeated Hiram, as he 
adjusted the scales to ascertain the weight of the fish. "A 
little over fifteen pounds," he said in a few moments. "It 
did not give up much too soon, for see, the casting line 
barely holds together!" 

I examined the line, and found that the salmon had 
so chafed it near the fly against the stones in the river, 
that it had almost parted, and the wonder was it held as 
long as it did. 

"Jupiter!" 1 exclaimed, "that was a narrow shave; 
well, we'll go up to camp and lay off, I've had enough 
for to-day." 

Hiram put the fish into the canoe, and poled up the 



348 IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

rapids, and soon we were on the beach in front <jf our 
tent. 

The afternoon was now drawing" to a close, and the 
guide soon began to busy himself in getting ready a pile 
of fire wood for the night, and in preparing supper. 

Having nothing better to do, I poled the canoe across 
the pool and picked raspberries, while I waited for Frere 
and William, whom I expected would soon return, and I 
did not have long to wait, for their forms soon appeared 
through the bushes and trees which skirted the carry road 
that followed the banks of the river up into the moun- 
tains for miles. 

"A handsome string of sea trout," I exclaimed, as 
William deposited his load in the canoe with a sigh of 
relief. 

Thirty-five beauties they were, all but two or three 
of them as silvery white as if they had just run in from 
the sea. 

"Yes, they're a handsome lot," replied Frere. 

"And there are hundreds as good left," added William. 

"Yes, the pools are full," said Frere, "and the rain 
has stirred them up so that they will rise to almost any- 
thing" that offers." 

"What luck?" inquired Hiram, as the canoe touched 
the shore in front of the camp, and we stepped out 



tVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 349 

"Oh, they got a beautiful string of sea trout, I ex- 
claimed, but no salmon." 

"What have you done?" asked Frere. "I thought 
you intended to lay off this afternoon." 

"I did," I replied, "but a salmon out in the pool 
here insisted that I should take him in out of the wet, 
and of course I could not be so impolite as to refuse." 

"Certainly not." assented Frere, cordially, "and did 

you take him in?" 

"He did so," exclaimed Hiram, "and here's the fish," 
lifting the salmon as he spoke from its bed of brakes and 
leaves near by. 

"A nice fish," said Frere; "and was it in this pool 

that .you found it?" 

"Yes," I replied, "I hooked him here, but killed him 

in the pool below." 

"There's more left here," said Hiram, "we saw two 

others, sure." 

"All right," exclaimed my friend, "we will give them 

a trial by and by."' 

" But you broke off your fly," exclaimed William, open- 
ing the mouth of the fish. "Why didn't you take it out, 
Hiram? It's too good a fly to waste." 

As he spoke he removed from the palate of the fish 
a fly that was fastened firmly in the tough skin. 



350 iVitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"No, I lost no fly," I replied. 

"Why, that's the fly I lost down in one of the pools 
below," exclaimed Frere, taking it in his hand and ex- 
amininof it. 

"Sure it is," said William; "it's not often that you 
hook a salmon that quick again after it has felt the steel 
in its mouth." 

And he was right ; it is rarely, indeed, that a sal- 
mon is killed with a lost hook in its mouth, but it oc- 
casionally happens.* 

"Gracious!" I exclaimed, as we sat down before the 
spread that had been laid for us, "you've enough for an 
army, Hiram." 

"A small army, sir," he replied; "but we'll wait till 
we see what's left." 

Canned oysters, stewed ; broiled trout, boiled trout, 
fried potatoes, biscuits and butter, canned pears, and a 
big dipper of tea, made a royal meal, and we lingered 

^'^ Genio C. Scott in his elegant work on "Fishing in American Waters," says: 
"Again it is said, ' If you hook a salmon and he parts your tackle, taking your 
hook and a piece of the gut snell to which it was attached, he will not rise to 
an artificial fly again that season.' This is also a mistake; for the gentleman 
who owns the York River, Gaspe, fished with a friend who lost a hook and part 
of a leader by a salmon one morning last July, and on the evening of that day 
took the salmon with the hook and gut still in his mouth ; and, what appears most 
singular, is that he hooked the salmon with the same kind of fly that was then 
fastened to the jaw of the fish." , 



-!'> tor 




352 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

over it a good half hour. There is a hmit, however, 
to the eating- capacity of a fisherman even, and we were 
at length obliged to exclaim "enough." 

"Now, Frere," I said, as we arose from the table, 
and he took his rod and sauntered over to the rapids 
at the head of the pool, "it's your turn now; I've taken 
my salmon here, you strike one now and I'll be gaffer." 

"All right," he answered, "but I fear you'll not be 
called upon to-night." 

"Who can tell?" I replied. "Let us hope that the 
fish will bite as savagely as those plaguy punkies do." 

The midges had begun their evening's work, and sav- 
age they were, too. I have noticed that they are always 
sharper set after a rain storm than at any other time. 

"Yes, the midges are savage enough," he exclaimed, 
rubbing and scratching his hands and wrists and face as 
he prepared his line for casting. 

"It's no use," I said, "I cannot stand the pests any 
longer ; tar it is ! " and hurrying to the tent for the tar 
bottle I smeared on the antidote pretty freely. 

Frere was elad to avail himself also of the tar, and 
it was only after he had covered all the exposed portions 
of his skin that he could cast in peace. The sun had 
sunk below the forest-clad hills in the west, and the shad- 
ows on the pool were growing blacker and blacker. Over- 



With Fly-Rod and Caniera. 353 

head a few golden and purple clouds were sailing high in 
the heavens, and their forms, mirrored on the surface of 
the pool, lent a color and brightness to the picture which 
was very beautiful. 

Frere stood on the rocks on the lower edee of the 
rapids and cast a long line across the stream into the 
quick water on the further side. It was a long cast, and 
one that requires a master hand to give it ; for the quick 
current, and then the eddy below, made a sag in the line 
that was difficult to lift cleanly so that a high back cast 
— which was necessitated by the pebbles and stones on 
the beach behind — could be secured. 

Frere, however, handled his line with his usual skill, 
but after making a score of fruitless casts, he changed 
his position, wading up into the quick water above, so 
that his back cast might be up the stream and his line 
could fall straight into the eddy. 

"That's better," I exclaimed, "I don't like to fish 
across a stream when my line is sure to drift into an 
eddy." 

"Nor I," he replied, putting out a line that reached 
all over the best of the pool, "it is difficult to strike a 
fish under such conditions, or if the fish is hooked the 
tip is almost sure to be smashed." 

" It's a mighty neat fly that Mr. Frere puts out," 



354 IVitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

said Hiram, who had joined me; "it's not every fisher- 
man who can equal him." 

" Rii4'ht you are," I repHed, "Mr. Frere has served 
his time at casting-. By Jove, Frere," I exclaimed, "you 
just now had a rise." 

"I thought so," he answered, "but there is so much 
foam on the water that I could not see at this distance. 
What was it?" 

"A salmon, sir," replied Hiram; "rest him a little, 
and he'll come again, no trouble." 

Frere, with the fingers of his left hand, drew the 
line in through the rings on the rod, and calmly waited 
for the fish to settle again. 

I cannot explain why it is, but I always have a bit 
of something akin to buck fever after a salmon has been 
raised and missed, and the pool is being rested prepar- 
atory to another cast. Whether it is from the suspense 
or the excitement of anticipation that causes it, or per- 
haps a combination of these feelings with a dread of los- 
intr the fish by and by, I know not; but I cannot avoid 
it, no matter whether I or some one else holds the rod. 

After the lapse of a couple of minutes Frere again 
began putting out his line, and soon the fly was drop- 
ping here and there upon the pool. Frere waited until 
sufficient line was out to enable him to make a clean 



356 IVitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

cast over the spot where the sahiion had come up be- 
fore, and then with a grand sweep he dropped the fly 
in the edge of the eddy exactly where the sahnon had 
missed it. In an instant a swirl in the water, a splash, 
and then the whir of the reel gave sure token that the 
fjsh was hooked. 

"Good," I exclaimed; "kill your fish, Frere, and then 
the honors will be easy again." 

"I'll do my best," he replied, packing away on the 
reel all the line that would come to him, "there's a good 
hour of light left yet." 

" It'll not take that long," said William, with gaff in 
hand and ready for action ; " 'tis only a smallish fish, and 
unless it gets away, Mr. Frere's heavy rod will make quick 
work of it." 

The salmon, as soon as the pressure of the rod was 
put upon it, gave a tremendous run down the pool, almost 
to the foot, and then, returning to the middle, instead of 
jumping, it settled to the bottom. Frere quickly reeled 
in the line that had been carried out, and soon had it 
as short and taut as he could wind it ; he then tried to 
lift the fish into action, straining heavily upon the rod, 
but to no avail. 

"What is the fish about?" I asked, "jiggering?" 

"No," replied Frere, "it is on the bottom very still, 



JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 357 

but I don't believe it will stand the strain of this rod a 
great while." 

In fact, the Avords had hardly been spoken when the 
salmon started down the pool again, this time, however, 
leaping wildly and endeavoring at every jump to free it- 
self. Darting up the pool once more, and back to the 
foot, jumping at every few yards, it seemed as lively as 
a grilse, and it required the greatest activity on the part 
of Frere to keep enough line on the reel to meet the 
rushes of the silvery prize. Another time the salmon re- 
turned to the middle of the pool, and settled to the bot- 
tom. Frere reeled in, and again, when the lift of the 
rod was put on, the fish repeated its fierce leaps and wild 
runs down and across the pool; but now it was plainly 
weakening; its runs began to grow shorter and shorter 
and its leaps less frequent. The heavy rod was evidently 
too much for it, and at length it rolled over on its side 
and came to the surface. 

Frere, with a strong lift, endeavored to lead the fish 
toward the guide, who stood with gaff in hand on the 
beach, a short distance away, but the effort was prema- 
ture, for the instant that the salmon saw its enemy it re- 
covered its strength, and, darting back, settled at the bot- 
tom of the pool again. 

"'Tis a little rest the fish wants," shouted Hiram, 



358 fVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

who had been Avatching' the fight from the beach near 
the camp, "give it a httle breathing- spell, and 'twill be 
as fresh again as a daisy." 

"A rest is something I don't propose to give it now," 
said PVere, "I can take no chances." And he was right; 
many a salmon has been lost by dawdling Avith it, and 
the fisherman has in despair seen his hook come home to 
him when he might have saved his prize if he had had 
the couratre and self-denial to force the fieht. 

The salmon responded again, but this time the rush 
was a short one and the leaps few and feeble. It began 
circling about aimlessly, and soon its silvery side was ex- 
posed again at the surface. 

"Sweep him in this time, Mr. F'rere," said William, 
and I'll oraff him sure." 

Frere made no reply, but with a swing of the heavy 
rod he forced the fish toward the guide, and in an instant 
the gaff had done its work, and the salmon lay upon the 
beach. 

"Indeed, it came to oraff none too soon," exclaimed 
William, "the hook dropped out as I touched it." 

"Right you are," said Hiram, "it was a close call." 

On examination of the salmon's m.outh, we found that 
the hook had torn a long orifice in the lip, and the won- 
der was that it had held as lono- as it did. 



M^^ith Fly-Rod and Camera. 359 

"A miss is as good as a mile," exclaimed Frere, as 
he deposited his rod on the proper supports at the camp; 
"'twas a pretty fish, and I should have felt badly to have 
lost it." 

"Well, Hiram," I exclaimed, "we have four or five 
nice salmon and more trout than we can use, and we 
ought to send them away to our friends, who would be 
oflad to ofet them." 

"Yes," added Frere, "you had better make your ar- 
rangements to send out the salmon and most of the trout 
the first thing to-morrow morning." 

"AH right, gentlemen," said the guide, " Fll go now 
to the farm for a team to haul them out. "I'll put them 
in the snow* to-night, and make two boxes and pack and 
send them off to-morrow bright and early." 

"Good," said I, "pack them solidly with snow and 
swamp moss, and they will go all right." 

"Never fear," answered Hiram, "many's the box Fve 
packed for fishermen, and never a one lost yet." 

We gave him our tags to affix to our boxes and 
directions as to how the fish were to be divided, and soon 
he was being ferried across the river with his heavy load. 
Landing at the mouth of the brook he put the fish in a 
large bag, which he anchored in the cold water that came 

* Snow, instead of ice, is often stored by Canadians. 



360 IVith Fly-Rod and Cainera. 

tumblino- down from the rocks, and started for the team 
that was necessary to carry them to the farm. 

"Next to the pleasure of taking the fish," said Frere, 
as ,we again settled down by the fire, "is that of send- 
ing a nice box to friends now and then as a present." 

"Yes," I replied, "but I am afraid that the recipients 
do not always appreciate how much trouble and expense 
we incur in sending our presents to them. In fact, I 
have sometimes almost vowed that I would never as'ain 
send away a fish. Not very long ago, at a good deal 
of trouble, I packed a nice box of trout and sent it to 
a friend. On meeting him a few weeks after, he thanked 
me in a civil enough way, but coolly stated that, although 
the fish Avere nice and all that, he would rather have a 
fresh mackerel any time." 

"Ha, ha," laughed my friend, "you probably never 
sent him another box after that." 

"No, 3'ou may depend on it," I answered, "and in 
fact I nowadays seldom send away any fish unless I know 
they are going w^here they will be fully appreciated ; if I 
get more than my party can eat, I give them away among 
the settlers around. I never waste a fish anyway." 

"No, wicked waste that would be," said Frere. 

"I used to see wicked waste at the Rangeley Lakes, 
in Maine," said I, after a short pause, "awful waste, in- 



362 WitJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

deed. Before the present fish law was enacted, no hmit 
was placed on the size of the catch of anglers, and they 
could kill at their own sweet will as many trout, large 
or small, as they wished. I have seen a man come into 
camp at night with two hundred and fifty trout, some of 
them so small as to be too insignificant for cooking, and 
I once saw on the shore of a famous trout brook a pile 
of over a thousand fingerlings, which had been caught and 
left to rot. It was outrageous. Fortunately now the law 
restricts the fisherman in the size of his catch and num- 
ber of pounds in his possession, and prohibits him from 
sending them away, although he may carry fifty pounds 
with him when he leaves, and this provision should sat- 
isfy any reasonable sportsman. This law will stay the 
crreat destruction that has been oroino- on." 

"I should think," said Frere, "judging by the ac- 
counts of the fishing at your famous lakes, that the law 
has come too late ; I should imagine the stock might be 
exhausted." 

"On the contrary," I replied, "there is still good fish- 
ing there, and the very efficient Maine Commissioners put 
into the water many, many more fry than there are taken 
out, and the stock of large fish still holds out. Every 
year there are taken great numbers of trout running from 
five to seven pounds, and we occasionally hear of a ten, 




o 



3^4 



IVith Flv-Rod a] id Camera. 



eleven, or even twelve pounder. All these are taken with 
light, single-handed rods. 

"My friend, Mr. W. H. Fullerton, of Windsor, Ver- 
mont, writes me that with some of his heavy fish last 
season, such as six and three-quarter pounds, he used a 
four and a half ounce rod! It requires a careful and 
scientific angler to do such work, but Mr. Fullerton Is 
all of that ; in fact, he is the most sportsmanlike and 
conscientious angler with whom I ever fished."* 



* I\Ir. yullerton writes me as follows : " Last August and September I went to 
the Upper Dam [at the Rangeley Lakes] and had fine sport, all conditions being 
favorable for it. I will give you m}^ record, knowing you will enjoy it : 



Aug. 24 . 




6 lbs., with 6-oz. rotl. Aug. 


30 




2Xlbs. 


with 8-oz. rod 




' 24 . 




6/3 " " " ' 


I * * 


30 




3?4 " 


" " " 




' 24 . 




3 " 


' " 


30 




3 '4 " 


' ' * ' " 




' 25 . 




34 " " S-oz. ' 


' " 


31 




I, '2 " 






' 25 . 




3'4 " " " ' 


Sept. 


3 




5 " 


" " " 




' 25 . 




2'4 " " " ■ 


' ' ' 


3 




iX " 


" ' * ** 




' 25 . 




2 " , << , " < 


' '' 


3 




IH " 


" ■' " 




25 • 




5 " 


1 >> 


4 




b% " 


" " " 




' 27 . 




3 " 


' '• 


4 




6M' " 


" 4y3-oz. " 




' 28 . 




2X " " " ' 


' " 


4 




3^ " 


" " " 




' 28- . 




i,H' " " " ' 


' ' ' 


4 




byi " 


" " " 




' 29 . 




2% " " ■' ' 


* ( ( 


4 




3K " 


" a-oz. " 




' 29 . 




i'4 " " " ' 


' " 


4 




3, '4 " 


It ( ( IC 




' 29 . 




b% " " " ' 


' " 


8 




3 " 


(( (( (C 




' 29 . 




3.H' " " " ' 


( ( ( 


II 




5,^4 " 


t < { ( (C 




' 29 . 


^K-o 


6^4 " ," " ' 

1-irn-ocf- i.-/=;rrliprl ml/ 


Ihc QC Tr, 


14 


1 CP 


4 '4 " 


c^r^r^ TT^« t 



and 63/| caught on 4^-oz. Leonard [Catskill] rod I netted alone in strong water 
and from a boat, which I call a good test of a rod, in fact I can handle a large 
trout on it nearh' a? quickly as I can with my 8-oz. Leonard. Hoping you and 
I may meet again and 'cast our lines in pleasant places,' 

I am very truly yours, Wm. LL Fullerton." 



366 PVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"That must be g;reat sport," said Frere, "killing so 
large a fish on so small a rod, it is the quintessence of 
delicate angling." 

"Yes," I answered, "and many of my friends are 
adopting just such light tackle." 

"You say that the Maine waters are being restocked 
artificially," said Frere, "I suppose that the artificial method 
is a complete success." 

"Yes," I replied, "and we put out now annually an 
immense number of not only trout fry, but also those of 
other species, particularly the sea salmon and land-locked 
salmon. You Canadians set us the example, and for a 
time led us in the eood work, but we are now abreast 
of, even if we are not really outstripping, you." 

"Yes, you Yankees always go into everything with 
a rush," said Frere, laughingly. 

"We do," I replied, "and we are rushing the arti- 
ficial propagation of fish. I have visited a number of 
the hatcheries, both in the States and your Provinces, 
and I inspected the operations closely." 

"It must be very interesting," said Frere, "I wish 
you would describe the different manipulations by which 
the fry are produced. Our hatcheries are very success- 
ful, and they turn out millions of fry annually, but I have 
never seen the actual operation." 




Taking the Spawn and Milt Simultaneously at Grand Lake Stream, jNIe. (Inst.) 



368 With Fly-Rod and Ccvjiera. 

"Yes," I replied, "the whole process is intensely in- 
teresting- and a wonderful scientific triumph. I will de- 
scribe it as well as I can. Of course the first step to 
be taken is the erection of a hatchery, and this must be 
done on scientific principles, no matter how pretentious 
or otherwise the buildincr may be. It is essential that 
there shall be an unfailing- supply of pure water. Bright 
sparkling- brook water, free from sediment, is the most 
desirable. The house is placed so that the water can 
be conducted into it by pipes or sluices, and then it is 
caused to pass through a series of long tanks or troughs. 
In these troughs are placed trays containing the eggs, 
and there they remain in the moving water until the fry 
are hatched. 

"The house erected and everything ready for oper- 
ating — and this should be accomplished early in the sum- 
mer, or at any rate before the fish are ready to spawn 
— a supply of breeding fish should be secured. 

"The method of obtaining this supply varies at dif- 
ferent hatcheries.'*' At some, as on the Penobscot River 

* In the Canadian Fisheries Report (1886) I iind the following-; "There are 
several methods adopted at the present time for obtaining supplies of parent tish to 
provide the hatcheries with eggs. By far the least expensive one is to entice the 
salmon on their passage up river into a safely constructed trap-like inclosure, where 
they can be retained until ripe for spawning, and then set free again. This sys- 
tem is not of easy application, unless the stream is moderately small, and easily 
controlled. The Dunk River Hatchery, P. Q. E., is provided with this method for 



370 JVith Fly- Rod and Cauiera. 

in Maine, the weirs are depended upon to procure the 
supply, and the fish are kept prisoners in small ponds 
until they are ready to spawn. At the Schoodic hatch- 
ery on Grand Lake vStream the fish are caught and de- 
tained in yards in the river. This is done very ingeni- 
ously, and the fish are kept on their natural spawning 
grounds until the eggs are ready to come away. The 
nets are set in the stream so that after the fish enter 
them at the upper end, the outlet of Grand Lake, and 

capturing the parent stock of salmon, and gives the minimum cost of about 45 cents 
for each fish, with a trifle over 9 cents per thousand for eggs. 

"Another method is adopted at the Ristigouche, Gaspe and Tadoussac hatcheries, 
where the early runs of salmon in June, Jul}' and August are netted by employees 
of the hatcheries, or purchased from fishermen owning stations on the rivers, at 
current market prices. These fish are carefully handled from the nets, and trans- 
ported in scows specially made for the purpose, to pens or retaining ponds near by, 
through which the tide or current of the stream freely runs [pure tidal water of 
the sea is preferable for their healthy keeping]; here the salmon are kept till spawn- 
ing time arrives in October and November. After being manipulated they are set 
at liberty again, without any loss worthy of mention. At these three establishments 
the cost of each fish, including their guardianship in the pens throughout the seasons, 
averaged $2.75, and the eggs ranged at about 44 cents per thousand. This system, 
after several years of practical application, has proved to be the most satisfactory 
from every point of view in which it may be considered, and ought to be connected 
with the working of every hatchery in the Dominion where circumstances will fairly 
admit of its application. 

"The system pursued at the Sydney, Bedford, St. John and Miramichi hatch- 
eries to secure parent salmon for breeding purposes, is to take them with nets at 
the spawning time or just previous to it. While this method proved satisfactory, 
both as regards the number of fish captured and the quota of eggs obtained for 
the Sydney and Miramichi hatcheries, the result for the Bedford and St. John River 
hatcheries was very unsatisfactory." 



372 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

pass down to the spawning beds, they cannot pass out. 
They are as securely encaged as a rat in a wire trap, 
and there they remain until the spawn is taken. 

"The Schoodic hatchery is the most favorably lo- 
cated of any I have seen, and the fish are in perfect 
condition when the eo-grs are taken.* 

o o 

* The following- interesting- account of the operations at the Schoodic hatchery 
is furnished me by Mr. W. T. Buck, the official who supervised the work when 
I visited it : 

"Schoodic salmon are captured at Grand Lake Stream, Me., in net traps set 
on the spawning beds. The season during which the females lay their eggs, de- 
pending probably on temperature, varies in different years, but may be expected be- 
tween the 20th of October and the 20th of November. The males come first to 
the spawning grounds, the proportion of females gradually increasing until they far 
outnumber the males in the later catches of the season. 

"The salmon run into the traps mostly during the night. Each morning those 
taken are measured and weighed, and when a female is found ripe, as- many of her 
eggs are taken as she will yield on moderate pressure. She is then put in a pound 
with others of her class to be handled the next day, when she will yield the rest 
of her eggs. At the first handling a ripe female yields about two-thirds of her 
eggs, say 1,200 from an average fish. The fish that are found unripe are placed 
bv themselves to be examined a day or two later. Some of the males are put into 
each pound in order that they may be seined up with each lot of females and at 
hand for use. 

"In the operation of spawning, the eggs and milt are received in a pan with- 
out water and mixed by waving the pan in a circle. They are then weighed and 
washed in changes of water until the water is no longer cloud)-. After standing 
in clear water for about twenty minutes, or until they are swelled and hardened, 
they are taken to the river hatchery and placed on wire trays about one foot square. 
The trays are placed one above another in stacks or frames of twenty each, with 
spaces between for passage of water, but too narrow for passage of eggs, and the 
stacks carefulh' lowered into troughs supplied with running water and of such size 
that the stacks nearly fill the whole width and depth. The flow of water is thus 
between the trays, and the eggs are. supplied both above and below. This arrange- 



374 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" The method of cxtractino- the eesfs and milt is a 
simple one, yet it must be done by an expert. The fish 
is held by the operator with his right hand (encased in 
a woolen mitten) clasping the salmon near the tail. The 
left hand is then passed with a moderate pressure along 
the body of the fish, and the eggs exude ; an accomplished 

ment, which was invented here by Mr. Atkins, has since been largely adopted else- 
where. Twice each week tlie stacks are lifted from the water and each tray of 
eggs examined, and any white ones removed, as such eggs are dead and would soon 
burst and destroy others. 

"The water of the river hatchery being very cold, any eggs which are not to 
be matured early are kept there as long as the condition of the river will admit. 
The hatchery being in the bed of the river, it is necessary to remove the eggs be- 
fore the spring freshets, which overflow the troughs to the depth of several feet. 
All are removed before packing or hatching to the cove hatchery, where the water 
supply is from springs and is warmer than the river water. By dating the removal 
from the cold river water, the period of hatching can be regulated to a considerable 
extent. 

"After the appearance of the eye dots the eggs which are to be packed are 
first jarred by pouring from one p:in to another several times, which causes the un- 
fertilized to turn white. These having been picked out, the remainder are placed on 
mosquito netting and between layers of damp moss in boxes of thin wood. These 
boxes are about three inches deep and contain four layers of eggs. Covers are then 
tacked on and the boxes packed one upon another in cases of dry moss. The outer 
cases are of such size as to allow a layer of moss three inches thick on all sides 
of the inner boxes. 

' ' Care is taken to secure a temperature but little above freezing in the moss 
of the inner boxes at the time of placing them in the outer cases. The latter are 
then stuffed tightly .with the dry moss and nailed up. Packed in this way, eggs 
will bear long exposure to heat or cold and a good deal of rough handling, the 
moss deadening the force of a jar. They are, however, sent at once to their 
destination, and every effort is made to secure careful treatment on the way. Eggs 
packed in this manner have been sent from here to many parts of the United vStates, 
and even across the ocean, and have almost always arrived in excellent order. Last 



37^ With Fly- Rod and Cainei^a. 

operator can tell in an instant if the eggs are advanced 
enough to be taken, and he will not use any force or 
unnecessary pressure in removing them. They ought to 
come away with the exercise of almost the lightest touch 
of the hand. 

"The male salmon is handled in exactly the same way, 
and his milt is mixed with the eggs in a pan without any 
water being added. After the spawn and milt are well 
mixed, they are allowed to stand a few minutes in clear 
water, and are then placed in trays in the hatchery. 

"These trays have bottoms composed of wire netting, 

season a slight moditication of this packing ^vas made for eggs sent abroad. The 
cases -were so made that ice could be placed on top of the inner e<g^ boxes which 
were arranged to allow the water from the melting ice to flow o\'er and around 
but not into them, so that the moss in contact with the eggs might not fiecome 
too wet. Arrangement was then made v/ith the steward of the steamer on which 
the eggs crossed the Atlantic, to keep ice in the cases during the voyage. Packed 
in this way the eggs reached England and Germany in good order. 

"Comparison of records shows a gradual increase in size of the Schoodic sal- 
mon handled at the spawning season, and a marked increase in the }-ield of eggs 
per fish : 

Thus 235 males, weighed and measured in 1S77, averaged 16. 8 in., 1.8 lbs. 

" 247 " " " " " 1886, " 20.3 " 3.46 " 

" 343 females, " " " " 1877, " ■ 16.1 " i.g " 

" 505 " " " " " 1886, " 20.1 " 3.58 " 

while the average number of eggs per female has advanced from about goo to 

about 1,800. 

"Attempts at crossing the different varieties of fish taken here, such as Schoodic 
salmon and brook trout, or togue and Schoodic salmon, have not resulted in vigor- 
ous fish, although such hybrids have been hatched, but sea salmon eggs fertilized 
with milt from Schoodic salmon produce strong fr}- not to be distinguished from 
the ordinary Schoodic salmon fry." 



378 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

and when placed in the troughs, the running- water passes 
over and around them constantly. Of course, the trays 
are examined often, and the infertile eggs removed. At 
one hatchery that I visited last November there was a 
very large percentage of loss, more than half the eggs 
in the trays being white and spoiled from frost, I think, 
but generally the percentage of loss is very small. 

"The artificial is a vast improvement on the natural 
method, the percentage of loss in the former being about 
the same as the percentage of successful hatching in the 
latter, for the milt diffused in the water quickly loses its 
power of impregnating the ova, and this, together with 
the depredations of trout and other fish, which dart in 
and seize the eggs almost as fast as they are exuded, 
makes the percentage absurdly small." 

" Yes, the trout bother the salmon some when they 
are spawning," said William, "but not such a great deal, 
for the old salmon drives them off ; the sheldrake does 
most mischief." 

"Yes," I answered, "and the wonder to me is that 
there is a salmon left. One thing is pretty certain, and 
that is that artificial propagation of this fish is in the fu- 
ture to be the main reliance for the continuance of the 
species ; for the demand is now so immense, and the mar- 
ket so great, the natural method could never supply it 




A Forty-Eight Pounder. 



380 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

The work that is now being done, therefore, by the Com- 
missioners of the States and Provinces, is of exceeding 
value, and is deserving of the greatest encouragement and 
support, not only from sportsmen, but from the whole peo- 
ple. The appropriations by the different governments have 
been absurdly meagre, when we take Into consideration the 
importance of the work undertaken and its results, and it 
seems to me that as a money-making investment alone, 
the various Commissioners should be unstinted in their re- 
sources." 

"The 3^oung fry, just hatched, are devoured by small 
trout and the little salmon," said William. 

"Yes," I replied, "and here also the artificial method 
is an improvement on the natural ; for by it the young 
fry, instead of being in their helpless condition turned 
adrift in the midst of enemies, are retained at the hatch- 
eries until they are large enough to take care of them- 
selves, when they are distributed in the various streams 
to which they are allotted." 

"It is very interesting," said Frere, after I had fin- 
ished. "Who would have thought of breedine salmon like 
so many chickens thirty years ago ; by and by they will 
breed cod and other sea fish." 

"They do now," I replied; "in the States our Com-' 
missioners have hatched millions of young cod ; shad cul- 



382 With Fly-Rod and Cmnera. 

ture is an old story, and now we are hatching- lobsters, 
scup and striped or sea bass in great numbers." 

"Wonderful," said Frere, "the progress of science is 
something' astoundino." 

"Yes," I replied, "the rivers are being restocked In 
the most liberal manner, and if the fish are given a fair 
chance, and not wasted, the prospect is good for a steady 
improvement in angling." 

"I have often," said Frere, "when I had a perma- 
nent camp of a week or ten days, iii order that my fish 
might not be wasted, smoked all spare grilse and salmon, 
and they prove delicious on the winter breakfast table." 

"Yes," added William, "and salted sea trout are also 
very fine in winter. Soak them a few hours and broil 
them, and they are nice." 

"I never tasted any salt trout," I replied, "but have 
heard that the sea trout is very good after such a pickl- 
ing ; but I should not fancy it ; nothing like the fresh- 
caught fish for me." 

"Yes, the sea trout is at its best when just from the 
water, although it is fairly good v^^hen pickled like the 
mackerel ; the spotted or brook trout, however, is worth- 
less when salted." 

"It is," said William, "perfectly worthless, tough, hard 
and without any taste but the salt; but Fve been think- 



384 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

Ing about what you said of the work of the fish hatch- 
eries; we pay a good bit of money in the Dominion for 
fish-breeding now, and the netters on the shore get most 
of the benefit." 

"You are right," I replied, "there is a very good dis- 
bursement in the interests of fishculture in Canada, and 
it is money well invested, I agree with you that the 
shore netters are getting a big lion's share of the results. 
In plain simple justice, in addition to the cost of license, 
which is a mere bagatelle, and the small tax they now 
pay on the nets, an additional tax should be levied on 
every salmon taken in weirs, gill-nets, or other traps in 
tidal waters, either in the Dominion or New England 
shores. Take for instance the Penobscot River in Maine, 
and the Margaree in Cape Breton, a few weir owners are 
reaping a rich harvest from the work done by the Com- 
missioners, and the State pays the bills. It is preposter- 
ous that a crop sown by the people of the State should 
not be harvested in some way by the whole people. I 
believe that, since they reap the chief portion of the har- 
vest, the weir owners should pay a good liberal share of 
the expense of planting it, or else their privileges should 
be greatly curtailed." 

"You are right," said Frere, "the netters and weir 
owners are havine an unfair advantage." 



386 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Indeed they are," exclaimed Hiram, "some of them 
are o-ettino- rich nettino- the fish the Government raises, 
while we poor devils, who have hard work to get a liv- 
ing, hardly see a salmon to call it our own." 

"Well," I replied, "you must agitate the matter. See 
to it that wise and disinterested law-makers are sent to 
your Parliament, men who will right the thing. Unless 
something is done salmon will grow scarcer, no matter how 
many are planted. The fishery officers have already per- 
ceived the evil and reported upon it.* 

* In the Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries of Canada for 1886, I 
find tlie following-: "In New Brunswick the improvement in the catch of salmon, 
which marks last year's return, was not sustained ; the figures standing 1,291,255 lbs. 
in 1S86, against 1,437,316 lbs. in 1885. This unsatisfactory result is attributable to 
excessive netting in the tidal estuaries, which prevents the salmon from reaching their 
spawning beds in the upper portion of the rivers. There is also a marked falling 
off in the catch of bass, attributable to the same cause." 

^^'. li. Venning, Esq., says: "The increase in the catch of salmon, which 
marked last year's returns, has not been sustained. Rejecting theories, and con- 
fining- myself to the observation of facts, I have for several years expressed my 
conviction, that under existing circumstances no permanent improvement in our sal- 
mon fisheries can reasonably be expected. These facts are, that in 1874 the salmon 
catch in New Brunswick was 3,214,182 lbs. Since railways have enabled fresh salmon 
to reach distant markets, the number of fishermen has increased, and improved appli- 
ances have been employed, not only along the coast, but from the estuaries to the 
headwaters of all our rivers to which salmon resort. With this increase in the 
number of men fishing, and with these improved appliances for catching fish, the 
catch last year was only 1,407,598 lbs., and this year only 1,268,855 lbs." 

Overseer Verge of the River Division says'. "The catch made on the New 
Brunswick side of the Restigouche was less than that of last year. This decrease 
is attributed to unfavorable winds in the early part of the seasoii and to excessive 
netting at the mouth of the river." 



388 U^ith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

" Every salmon that is netted should bear its fair 
share of the expense of the artificial propagation of the 
species, and what that share is can be easily figured, for 
the percentage and cost of development are well known. 
If, for instance, five hundred salmon are in one season 
taken in the nets and weirs about the mouth of a river, 
there should be a tax levied upon those fish which would 
pay the expense of planting and maturing at least five 
hundred others." 

"Wouldn't there be a good deal of machinery and 
red tape needed in such a method?" asked Frere, 

"Not necessarily," I replied; "a very simple, plain 
law could be enacted that would meet all the require- 
ments ; perhaps a stated tax on the number of salmon 
taken in the nets and weirs — the tax beino^ based on the 
ascertained statistics of cost of production — to be used in 
developing fishculture would be enough." 

"There is no doubt you are right," said Frere, "the 
remarkable growth of the lobster-canning industry on our 
shores is an illustration In point. All along our Cana- 
dian seaboard lobster trapping has been pushed to such 
an extent that in many localities where the fish was form- 
erly abundant, it is now almost extinct." 

"Yes," I replied, "and trapping and netting will do 
the same for the salmon. It is for us anglers to check 



390 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

the evil all we can, for it is to us that the great work 
of restockincr our rivers is due." 

"How is that?" asked F'rere. 

"Why, the idea originated with that prince of sports- 
men, Henry W. Herbert, better known as Frank Forres- 
ter, and it Avas advocated by other sportsmen, and pushed 
and pushed until the different governments took it up, and 
it has now attained wonderful proportions, * Yes, it is 

* In the Edinburgh New Philosophical Joiirmil for July, 1S36, there is an ac- 
count of some experiments made by Mr. Shaw. Commenting on these experiments 
Mr. Herbert, in his book on "Fish and Fishing," says: 

"Mr. Shaw, it seems, caused three ponds to be made, of different sizes, at 
about fifty yards distant from a salmon river, the Erith, the ponds being supplied 
by a stream of spring water -well furnished with larvae of insects. The average 
temperature of the water in the rivulet was rather higher and less variable than of 
that in the river ; otherwise the circumstances of the ova contained in the ponds, 
and of the young fry produced therefrom, were precisely similar to those of the 
spawn and fry in the river. 

"Observing two salmon, male and female, in the river preparing to deposit their 
spawn, Mr. Shaw prepared in the shingle by the stream's edge, a small trench through 
which he directed a stream of water from the river, and at the lower extremity of 
the trench placed a large earthenware basin to receive the ova. 

"This done, by means of a hoop net he secured the two fish which he had 
observed, and placing the female, while alive, in the trench, forced her by gentle 
pressure of her body to deposit her ova in the trench. The male fish was then 
placed in the same position, and a quantity of the milt being pressed from his body, 
passed down the stream and thoroughly impregnated the ova, which were then trans- 
ferred to the basin, and thence to the upper stream which fed the upper pond, where 
they were covered up as usual." 

Mr. Herbert does not give the percentage of fry that resulted from this and 
at that time novel, and which we would now call a crude attempt at fishculture ; but 
that it was a success his. language everywhere imphes, as he gives the period of in- 
cubation in different degrees of temperature of the water, and describes the various 



392 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

due to anglers and their efforts that many of our rivers 
now teem with fish, which the greedy waste, the sense- 
less butchery by others had rendered barren." 

stages of growth of the young fish that were hatched. Now for an application of 
this method, Mr. Herbert in the record of the efforts he was making for the pro- 
tection and propagation of the salmon, sa_\s : 

'■ I have stated that the true salmon was wont in former years to run up into 
Seneca, Cayuga, and others of the small lakes of central New York, and expressed 
a doubt whether it was not now prevented from doing so by the obstructions in the 
Oswego River. In the course of a visit to that interesting region during the past 
autumn, I had an opportunity of verif\-ing this doubt ; and I found, as indeed I 
expected, that the true salmon has ceased to exist ia those beautiful waters. It is 
with great pleasure, however, that I lay before my readers an enactment for the 
preservation of that noble fish, just passed by the Supervisors of the county of 
Oswego, in conformity with the act of the State Legislature, committing the care 
of game, and the passing of game laws, to those Boards throughout the county." 

This act (entitled "An Act for the Preservation of Salmon in the Salmon River 
and Lake Ontario contiguous thereto," passed Dec. 12, 1836), Mr. Herbert says, is 
precisely what it should be, and reflects the highest credit on the liberality, wisdom 
and energy of the Board which enacted it. "I only regret that its provisions extend 
only to a single river ; but I trust that this defect will be amended and that the 
Oswego River, and the Seneca, Cayuga and other outlets will receive the same priv- 
ilege, which would doubtless lead to the speedy re-establishment of the salmon in . 
those lovely and limpid waters." 

The act referred to was so lengthy that I will not quote it here, suffice it to 
say that it was a very strong one in the direction of. thorough protection of the 
salmon from seining, spearing and destruction by methods now considered baleful in 
the highest degree. Mr. Herbert further on says, and I ask your particular atten- 
tion to this : 

"I earnestly recommend the passage of similar laws to this, by the Legislatures 
of the various Eastern States, especially by that of Maine, in reference to every river 
eastward, at least, of the mouth of the Kennebec, as the only method by which 
the speedily approaching extinction of the salmon can be prevented. I have no 
doubt, however, that if the same laws were passed by the Legislatures of Connec- 
ticut and New York, with regard to the fine river which gives name to that first 
State, and to the noble Hudson, coupled with an absolute prohibition to take or 



394 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"So that we anglers are good for something after 
all," said Frere. 

"Yes," I replied, "and now that we have succeeded 

destroy the salmon, for the space of five years, that this, the king of fishes, might 
be re-introduced into those waters by the adoption of the simple method I have 
described. And I take this opportunity of stating that I have good hope of making 
such arrangements as will enable me to procure in this coming spring, such supplies 
of the salmon fry, in the state which admits of their transportation from Nova 
Scotia, as will suffice to establish the possibility of the undertaking. It is my inten- 
tion, should I succeed in obtaining the support or encouragement from the Legislature 
of New Jersey, to make the experiment in the tributaries of the Passaic ; and should 
it be successful, I can only add that it will give me but too much pleasure to assist 
any gentleman in procuring the means of re -stocking any waters on which they may 
reside, with this most game and noblest of fishes." 

The earnest efforts of Mr. Herbert bore good fruit, the movement which was 
first suggested by him and set on foot progressed wonderfully. Other sportsmen 
became interested in and advocated it in every direction. The good work went on ; 
the subject was more and more discussed, and legislative action more and more 
earnestly asked for, until finally, as Charles Hallock, another sportsman whose name 
is respected by anglers everywhere, writes in 1873, after commenting on the almost 
absolute extinction which had threatened our salmon : 

"Nevertheless, pluck and perseverance, combined with fortuitous circumstances, 
saved our streams from total depopulation. The subject was kept in agitation by 
gentlemen who were awake to the value of these material interests ; it was constantly 
impressed upon the attention of the authorities of several States. Then, one after 
another, the States appointed Fish Commissioners, delegated powers to them, and 
made appropriations. New England took the lead. New York and New Jersey 
followed, and now wc have [I will add in addition to the United States Commission, 
Commissioners in thirty-seven States and Territories]. Canada also took hold of the 
matter in sober earnest, and appointed a Fishery Commission which proved wonder- 
fully efficient in working out the most gratifying results. While our States were 
dallying, or impeded in obtaining means of replenishing our rivers, which they did 
not possess within themselves, Canada, with superior natural facilities, made rapid 
progress in the great work of recuperation, and is now in a fair way of restoring 
to her rivers the salmon in all their former wonderful plenty." 




A Three Fou.M) Sea Trout 



39^ With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

in getting the authorities at work restocking the depleted 
rivers, and have also succeeded in getting wise laws for 
the protection of the fish in the streams, it is for us to 
see to their enforcement. 

"No amount of fly-fishing, or surface-fishing, as it is 
termed, can deplete a salmon stream, for, as you know, 
though there may be hundreds of fish lying in the pools, 
it is only a very, very small proportion that will rise to 
the fly, no matter how skillful the angler may be, no 
matter how patiently, how diligently he may labor with 
them. So well recognized is this fact, that in your Cana- 
dian Fisheries Laws, which are carefully and wisely drawn, 
while the use of nets, spears, and all manner of other de- 
vices for the capture of salmon and trout is absolutely 
forbidden in the streams under heavy penalties, there are 
no restrictions against fly-fishing during the entire open 
season. In fact the law specially prescribes 'that it shall 
be lawful to fish for, catch and kill salmon with a rod 
and line in the manner known as fly surface, fishing,' and 
the angler may get his lease and take all the fish his 
good luck will bring to gaff, safe in the confidence that 
he is to be free from all molestation whatever. And it 
is a wise law ; for where he captures with the fly one 
fish, scores of others escape his efforts, and live to per- 
petuate their species. How would it be if there were 







Heads of Sea Trout. 



398 With Fly -Rod and Camera. 

no laws forbidding the capture of these fish by other 
methods, unwise and wasteful methods as the)' have been 
proven to be? How would it be if such restrictive laws 
were not enforced? Let me give you a single illustration 
in reply. 

"A river was leased by three or four gentlemen for 
a term of years. They were enthusiastic, diligent anglers 
and fly-fishermen, who had taken all the degrees in their 
art. Their whole season gave a score of only eleven sal- 
mon, yet the river showed an abundance of fish in every 
pool. In one night, after the close season had begun, 
sixty-five salmon were netted by poachers in one pool, 
and later, even when the fish were on their spawning 
beds, the net plied its deadly work, so that unquestion- 
ably several hundred of the fish were killed, and the river 
was almost depleted. 

"That river is now so well guarded that poachers 
cannot do much mischief, but if there were no laws for- 
bidding such shameful waste, how long would it be before 
the salmon would become extinct ? 

"The fish mttst visit the fresh-water streams in the 
breeding season. The spawn can be vivified and the 
young produced only in the cool living waters of the 
rivers. If the net and spear and seine were allowed to 
do their work, if no restrictive laws were made, how many 




o 



400 WifJi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

3^ears would it require for the species to become extinct? 
But ver)', very few indeed. 

"Now, who among- all the people, among- all the fish- 
ermen, among all those who would take and use the sal- 
mon, would be most likely to endeavor to prevent its de- 
struction in the rivers? Assuredly almost no one but the 
angler, the fiy-fisherman. He has studied the habits of 
the fish, he knows that the race to be perpetuated must 
visit the rivers, and he knows that cooped up as they are 
in the narrow limits of the pools, packed together, as they 
sometimes are, as closely as they can lie, that they would 
be absolutely at the mercy of the netter. Therefore, to 
preserve the race, he endeavors to secure the enactment 
of wise laws for its preservation, and tries to secure their 
enforcement," 

"The poachers are a hard lot," said William, when 
I had ended, "and many of them would not stop at 
almost any crime." 

"You are right," I replied, "they are a hard lot, and 
they are becoming more and more defiant. So reckless 
have they become that wardens and overseers now feel 
as if their lives are in danger if they try to enforce the 
laws. In fact murder of wardens has already been done 
in one of our New England States, and also of a lady, 
the wife of a visiting sportsman, in your own Province of 



402 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

New Brunswick, * and your Fisheries Reports imply that 
matters are growing worse and worse, the lives and prop- 
erty of wardens being constantly in jeopardy If the)' en- 
deavor to enforce the laws. 

"But let's to bed," I continued, arlsino- and enterino- 
the tent, "we cannot sit up much longer without making 
a night of it." 

"Yes," answered Frere, "our talk was so engrossing 
I had no idea it was so late." 

It did not require much time for us to get under 



* On the Tobique River ; commenting upon which I find in the Report of the 
Maine Commissioners of Fisheries and Game, j888, the following extract from For- 
est and St?'eam: "It has come to pass nowadays that to chronicle all events con- 
nected with shooting and fishing means to devote space to reports which properly 
belong in the criminal news of the daily press. It was only the other day that we 
recorded the murder on the Tobique, and the gross miscarriage of justice, by which 
the miscreants escaped righteous punishment. But if murderers of women go unhung 
in New Brunswick, they see to it that the hemp has its own out in ^Vyoming. 
That Territory has a law forbidding the killing of game for market. In spite of 
this, skin hunters and meat hunters have in 3'ears past invaded the Territory and 
plied their trade. This can be done no longer with impunity. Public feeling is 
on the side of the law." Upon which the Report makes the following comment: 
" Where interference with game law breakers has resulted in personal violence and 
crime, the fact has stood clearly revealed that the offenders against the game laws 
are desperate characters, and when these offenses are regarded with leniency, the 
tone of the communitv is abased. It M'as so with the Maine Shacker incendiaries, 
the doggers who killed the Maine wardens, the New Brunswick salmon spearers, 
and the Wyoming skin hunters. Lawlessness, with respect to one class of statutes, 
here means rebellion against good order and the bonds of society. Desperate mis- 
creants who break the game laws show themselves ready to stand at nothing, not 
even murder." 



404 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

the blankets, and in a very few minutes the heavy breath- 
ing of my companions indicated that they were in the 
land of dreams. I quickly followed them, and was soon 
in imagination holding a poacher with one hand and play- 
ing a twenty-pound salmon with the other, a feat which 
in my waking moments I should be loth to undertake. 




Oh' 



CHAPTER VI, 



The Last Day in Camp. • Spawning Habits of the Salmon. • Salmon 
Runs. • The Sea Trout, its Gameness, its Identity. • The Win- 
ninish. • Lake Edward. • Lake St. John and its Fishing. • The 
Peribonca and the Ashuapmouchouan Rivers. • The Land -Locked 

Salmon. 



I T'OR a week our tent remained as headquarters; up 
^ the stream and down we visited the various pools 
within three or four miles, and we had glorious success, 
every pool yielding up its tribute to our prowess. Tough 
and rugged and strong we became, and as brown as gyp- 
sies. For ten days we had now lived in the woods, and 
they were ten days of most intense enjoyment. 

The time was rapidly drawing near when we must 
return aeain to the civilized world. There had fallen 
but little rain, and the river was pretty low, so that the 
prospect for running down the stream in the canoe to 
the mouth of the river was not of the best ; and it was 
therefore with no little satisfaction that on the morning 




O' 



4o8 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

of the last day in camp we beheld the clouds gather- 
ing in heavy masses in the west, and all the indications 
pointing to a heavy storm. 

Early in the afternoon the rain began, and for six- 
teen solid hours poured as I never before nor since have 
seen it come down. It fell literally in sheets, and if we 
had not been well covered we should have had an un- 
comfortable time of it. But our canvas roof pfave us 
perfect protection, and aside from the discomfort of be- 
ing obliged to keep confined so closely we passed the 
time very well. 

We "killed time" telling fishing and hunting stories, 
and from these we naturally drifted into discussing the 
habits of various fish, particularly the sea trout and sal- 
mon. In reply to a question concerning the spawning 
habits of the salmon, William said : * 

"As you know, when they first come into the river 
they are silvery -bright, and you cannot tell the males 
from the females unless you examine them very closely. 
But after a while the male becomes very dark and poor, 
and his lower jaw grows very long and hooked at the 
end. Some think that this hook comes so that the males 
can fight off enemies better, but I believe that it grows 
out so that he can move the stones with it in the spawn- 

* Verbatim from my notes. — E. A. S. 




X 

o 



4IO IVitk Fly- Rod and Camera. 

ing- beds in the river. He roots them up, good sized 
ones, too, and it is very curious watching him. The fe- 
male seems to keep her shape, but the male becomes 
very poor, and he has a dark, reddish color along his 
belly. They generally spawn either in the tail of a pool 
or at the head of it, and generally in from one to three 
feet of water, although I have seen them spawning in 
six feet of water." 

"Yes," added Hiram, "and it is very interesting to 
watch them making their nests ; they dig out a hole in 
the stony bottom, rooting out the stones and pebbles all 
around, and when the hole is a few inches deep the fe- 
male drops her spawn in it and then the male. I have 
seen thirty or forty of these nests in one pool." 

"I should like very much to see the operation," said 
Frere ; "when is the spawning time on this river?" 

"It begins generally about the middle of September," 
replied Hiram, "and the fish run down to the salt water 
about the last of October or first of November. Early 
in October is the best time to watch them ; some spawn 
early and some late." 

"The spent salmon we call slinks," said William; "I 
think that they go to sea and return about the first of 
September again, for I have at that time seen salmon 
come up the river fat and plump, and these late salmon 








A Pair Worth Weighing. 



412 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

spawn when ice is making later in the fall. We have, 
even when standing on the ice over them, seen the fish 
spawning, and they will take bait at that time ; I don't 
say that they will all take bait, but I have known of 
their being caught with the flesh of trout." 

"I think you are mistaken, William," said I, "in be- 
lieving that the salmon which go down the river in the 
fall or winter return in September in the next year; I 
believe that the salmon spawns but once in two years, 
as the scientists tell us, and therefore the fish that go 
down to the sea, no matter how early or how late, do 
not come back until the next second year." 

"May be," replied the guide, "I couldn't say certainly." 
"There is no doubt about it," I answered. "I have 
often asked the question of the men who handle the sal- 
mon at different hatcheries, and they agree that the fish 
that leaves the river after shedding its spawn does not 
return again the next year. In fact it has been proved 
by affixing metal tags * to the dorsal fin of the fish, and 
noting when they returned." 

* The mode of marking now employed is the attachment of a small aluminum 
tag, by means of fine platinum wire to the rear margin of the first dorsal fin. Each 
tag is stamped with a number, which is recorded, together with the sex, length and 
weight of the fish, the date when liberated, and other facts. When, therefore, one 
of these fish is caught again, a reference to the record will show the length of time 
intervening between the liberation and recapture of the fish, its rate of growth mean- 
while, and various other facts. — Harpei-s Magazijie. 



414 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" I have noticed that in some rivers the salmon come 
in early in the season, while in others not a fish is seen 
till fall," said Hiram. "How do you account for that, 
Doctor?" 

"It is hard to account for it," I answered, "in fact, 
impossible. In some rivers there is a spring run and no 
other, in some there is a fall run only, and in others the 
salmon come in all through the summer and early fall, 
and I have heard that in some rivers the salmon run up 
in every month of the year. Some believe that the fish 
return to the river to spawn, early or late in the year, 
accordinpf to the greater or less distance it travels in the 
ocean ; but this, I believe, is all pure conjecture, for noth- 
ing is known of the salt-water life of the salmon. In 
some rivers it begins to take the fly very early. For 
instance, in one or two of the Nova Scotia rivers fresh- 
run salmon have been killed on the fly in the month of 
February." 

"The idea of fishino^ in mid -winter seems odd," said 
Frere. 

"Yes," I answered, "but it is the truth; every year 
a record has been kept of the first fish taken, and it is 
surprising to note how early they come." 

"The influence of the Gulf Stream is plainly seen 
in this," said Frere. 



4i6 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Yes, the Gulf Stream comes very close to the Nova 
Scotia shore, and no doubt it explains the presence of 
their early salmon," I replied. 

"Some of the sea trout that we get on the Casca- 
pedia," said William, "give almost as good play as a sal- 
mon. I have known of six and seven -pounders being 
taken on the fly, and a seven-pound sea trout will give 
a man his hands full." 

"You are right," I replied, "but, barring accidents, if 
your sea trout is hooked, you do not have any anxiety 
about killing him, ultimately, no matter how big he may 
be, for his mouth is very tough, and he has none of the 
arts and tricks of which the salmon is such a master." 

"No, the sea trout is a bold fiorhter and a strone 
one," said Hiram, "but he is not tricky." 

"What is your opinion concerning the identity of the 
sea trout, Doctor?" asked Frere. "A good many believe 
it is the brook or spotted trout with sea-going habits." 

"Now, Frere, I confess you ask mxC a poser," I an- 
swered, "sometimes I feel convinced that the sea trout is 
a distinct variety, and again I am almost certain it is our 
old friend, S. fontinalis, in disguise. Scientists affirm that 
this is the case, but most of the experienced fishermen, 
those who have for years handled these fish, are as posi- 
tive that the fish are not identical." 



4iB With Fly- Rod and Cajnera. 

"We guides don't think they are the same fish," ex- 
claimed Wilham. 

"Not by a good deal," added Hiram, "it is easy to 
tell one from the other." 

"Yes," said I, "I have thought so, and think so now; 
it seems to me that in a thousand specimens of the two 
varieties 1 could separate the individuals of one from the 
other, unerringly." 

"And so could I," exclaimed both of the guides sim- 
ultaneously. 

"You think you could," I continued, "but you would 
be puzzled sometimes. I have taken fish that I consid- 
ered to be sea trout which had been long in the river, 
almost as dark as the ordinary spotted brook or river 
trout ; this, mind you, in pools away up the river, many 
miles from the sea, yet in the same pools, and at the 
same time, I have killed others which were as silvery as 
if they had just run up. 

"Again I have taken undoubted bright-spotted and 
colored brook trout in great numbers in a branch of a 
river or 'logan,' and among them there would not be 
a single silvery fish ; but in the river itself, even at or 
near the mouth of the 'logan,' not ten rods from the 
spot where I took the others, I caught numbers of the 
silvery fish and not one of the spotted trout. Again I 



420 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

have taken the undoubted spotted trout in the slack water 
of the river, in fact at the head of tidewater, which were 
as highly colored as any I ever saw, and at the same 
time have taken the silvery-bright fish which had just left 
the sea. It puzzles me to decide. Scientists insist that 
the carmine spots which appear on the sides of the sea 
trout after they have been in the river a long time, to- 
gether with the same number of rays or spines in the 
fins, prove their identity, but I have seen many very dark 
colored sea trout that did not show the carmine spots at 
all. In all the rivers that I have ever visited the sea 
trout return to the salt water after they have spawned, 
but the river or spotted trout remain in the fresh water 
all winter. 

"As an example, I visited the Jacquet River last No- 
vember for the purpose of obtaining specimens of the sea 
trout for the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cam- 
bridge ; but not a single one could I obtain, although I 
visited pools which had teemed with them in the sum- 
mer, but the spotted trout were there in numbers; at 
Campbellton, however, at the mouth of the Restigouche, 
I had no difficulty in getting all I wanted, and they were 
all silvery-white!" 

"No, the sea trout and spotted trout are two dif- 
ferent fish, altogether," exclaimed Hiram, when I had fin- 



422 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

ished; "the spotted trout don't q-o down to the salt water 
at all, but live in the river all the time, and they do not 
change their color ver)- much all the year; but the sea 
trout become bright as soon as they get into the salt 
water." 

" It's a difficult problem to solve," said Frere, " I con- 
fess I have been puzzled a good deal, and I am not sat- 
isfied in my own mind now." 

"The sea trout has been supposed by some not very 
acute observers to be a young salmon," said I ; "what 
is your opinion on that point?" 

"I don't believe it is the case," replied Frere, "the 
grilse, which we know to be a young salmon, is entirely 
different from the trout ; I have taken sea trout of seven 
pounds' weight, but a grilse of that weight would be a 
salmon. No, the sea trout is either a distinct species or 
it is the fontinalis, with sea-going habits." 

"Another fish has also bothered me concerning its 
identity," said I, "and that is the winninish or land- 
locked salmon of Lake St. John, P. O. I made a visit 
to the lake last year for the purpose of obtaining speci- 
mens and establishing its identity, and have now come 
to the conclusion that it is identical with the land-locked 
salmon of the Schoodic lakes, and they are both varieties 
of the sea salmon." 







o> 



424 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Tell me about Lake St. John," said Frere, "I have 
heard much of it and have long felt a desire to visit it." 

"Willingly," I replied, "and if you visit the lake you 
will not resJfret it." 

"To reach it," said I, "you take cars at Quebec on 
the Quebec & Lake St. John Railroad. The journey 
occupies the entire day, the line being about two hun- 
dred miles in length, and is largely through long tracts 
of almost unbroken forest. All along the line are mag- 
nificent rivers and lakes, and the region that this road 
has opened up to the sportsman and tourist is among 
the finest. The principal of the lakes on the line, and 
one hundred and thirteen miles from Quebec, is Lake 
Edward, and if you are inclined to try the trout which 
abound in this lake you will stop over here for a day 
or two. You will find it a beautiful sheet of water, 
twenty-one miles in length, and full of picturesque islands 
and bounded by romantic shores. 

"At the Grand Discharge, at the head of Jeannot 
River, and down its course, you will find myriads of 
trout, all fontinalis, and the lake swarms with them of 
all sizes up to five or six pounds' weight. I saw in the 
ice house in one lot over twenty that would exceed three 
pounds each. The fish are very highly colored and fairly 
well flavored, but not so nice as sea trout. 




X 

o 



426 With Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"Leaving Lake Edward you resume your journey to 
Lake St. John, the home of the gamy winninish. When 
I visited the lake the train connected with the pioneer 
steamer, the Peribonca, and on this boat I had a two or 
three hours' sail to the Hotel Roberval, one of the most 
comfortable and best kept hotels in Canada, and the voy- 
age gave me a pretty good idea of the capabilities of the 
lake in getting up heavy seas, some of them breaking 
clear over the boat. I do not remember of ever before 
being out in such rough water in so small a boat, and 
it almost seemed at times as if we were likely to be 
swamped. The cars now run to the village of Roberval, 
and a trip in the steamer is not necessary. It is truly 
a vast body of water, nearly fifty miles in length, and 
from twenty to forty in width. Emptying into it are, I 
believe, eleven large rivers, besides many smaller streams. 
I had but little time to explore any of these rivers, and 
visited but three or four. Two of these, the Peribonca 
and Ashuapmouchouan, are of great size and length. 

"The Peribonca has been, I am informed, ascended 
by Indians and trappers something like six hundred miles. 
At its mouth it is of about the width and volume of the 
Connecticut River at Springfield. For quite a distance 
it is navigable by steamer, and its inflow into the lake 
is something enormous. 




t-;,.-,^-^ 



"^^^ 






OUIATCHOUAN FALLS, NeAR LaKE ST. JoHN, P. Q. 



428 With Fly- Rod and Camera. 

" The AsliLiapmouchouan River is also a very large 
stream. At St. Feliciennc, which is, I think, about ten 
miles above the lake, I found the river to be of about 
the size of the Merrimac at, say, midway between Law- 
rence and Haverhill, or about the size of the Restigouche 
at its junction with the Matapedia, perhaps a little larger. 
Now with this enormous lake, and with all these rivers 
emptying into it, there is practically an unlimited water 
system, which undoubtedly furnishes the best possible con- 
ditions for the preservation, growth, and wide and gen- 
eral diffusion of the SalmonidcE that here find a home. 
Establishing this fact at once in my mind, I of course 
made inquiries of every one who could give me any in- 
formation, and learned from all sources that the winninish 
are very abundant in the lake in early June, and even 
earlier if the ice melts about the shores, and the fish are 
taken readily with bait, and even with the fly, at that 
early season. So very abundant are they in fact, that, 
as I was informed, even boys and girls, as well as older 
fishermen, might be seen landing the fish with all sorts 
of tackle, from the most primitive to the most elaborate. 
As regards the great, the astonishing abundance of the 
wnnninish in the early part of the season, the statement 
made by all informants coincided, so that I have no doubt 
that at the period I have named, this magnificent game 




A Trophy, This,' 



430 PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

fish may be obtained in great numbers. The fish are so 
abundant, and come to the lure so greedily, that the num- 
ber one may kill is as great as his selfishness may limit. 
Later in the season the winninish move into the deep 
waters of the lake and into the cold streams. 

"A favorite haunt of theirs seems to be the Grand 
Discharge, the outlet of the lake into the head of the 
Saguenay River, where, in the rushing waters of the rapids 
and wildest of all whirlpools and eddies, the winninish are 
taken with the fly until late in September. 

"I have called the winninish a land-locked salmon, 
but it is not debarred from leaving the lake and descend- 
ing the river Saguenay to the St. Lawrence, and is there- 
fore not land-locked; and, as I said before, I can see no 
difference whatever between this species and the so-called 
land-locked salmon of the Schoodic Lakes, called by sci- 
entists Schoodic or Sebago salmon, which is also not land- 
locked. * 



* Regarding- the Schoodic salmon Mr. George A. Boardman, of Calais, a gen- 
tleman well known as a good observer, writes me: "I do not regard the fish a 
land-locked salmon, for the water must always have had an outlet to the sea, and 
the fish could go if they choose; and in fact, when I was a boy, sixty years ago, 
they were abundant in the river even to the salt water." 

Per contra, Hon. E. M. Stilwell, Commissioner of Fisheries and Game for the 
State of Maine, writes me: "There has been an increase in the size of the fish 
since 1883, according to the record kept by Charles G. Atkins, the Government super- 
intendent of the hatchery at Grand Lake Stream : 




5 o 



> 


< 




f- 


y, 






u 



432 



With Fly- Rod and Camera, 



*' I believe that the winnlnish and the so-called land- 
locked salmon recuperate and change exactly like the sea 
salmon ; but instead of doing- it in the sea they probably 
recover their condition and color in the great lakes, where 
they reside. I say probably, because it is not absolutely 
proved that they do not visit the salt water, although I 
am of the firm belief that they do not, and this belief 
is founded on the great amount of information that I have 
been able to derive from various sources. Both the win- 



3.00 


" " 




19.10 " 


3.85 " 


" " 




21.05 " 


3.81 " 


" " 




20.60 " 


3-46 " 


" " 




20.50 " 


3-79 " 


" " 




20.10 " 


s. as the 


average wei 


?ht 


of the fish caught 



In 1883, 28g male fish averaged 3.20 lbs. and measured 20.00 in. 

" " 314 female " " 

" 1885, 198 male " " 

" " 577 female " " 

" 1886, 247 male " " 

" " 503 female " " 



during the fly-fishing season. I have heard of fish of 5 and even 6 lbs. being taken 
through the ice. At Sebago last year we had at our spawning works one male land- 
locked salmon of 27 lbs. ; several females of 25 lbs. and 20 lbs. down to 5 lbs. I 
once did not believe in land -locking, I do now. I have never found the land-locked 
salmon indigenous to any of the waters of Maine without the smelt. I have found 
the smelt far inland, separated by impassable barriers of rock from the ocean, where 
it could never have ascended, and which it must have reached before some great con- 
vulsion of nature had isolated and land-locked it. I know of several ponds where 
the smelt exists in abundance. I do not know of one single instance in which the 
land-locked salmon has been found without the smelt. If the salmon ever was land- 
locked without the smelt it perished. The salmon in California has been repeatedly 
land-locked by mining operations, and they survived and bred. The land-locked sal- 
mon of Grand Lake is the same species precisely in size, weight, etc., as is to be 
found in the chain of ponds emptying into the Sebec River. At Reed's Pond, on 
the Ellsworth Road, about twelve miles from Bangor, you will find the same land- 
locked salmon that we have at Sebago, attaining to 12 and 20 lbs. The near vicinity 
of tlie ocean seems to have effected the size of these fish." 




< Z 



C > 



434 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

' ninish and the Schoodic salmon may visit the salt water 
if they desire, and I am not at all certain but that in- 
dividuals go up and down the Saguenay River. It is a 
very important point yet to be solved. * 

"While at Hotel Roberval you must not fail to visit 
the camp or village of the celebrated Montagnais Indians, 
at the Hudson's Bay Company's station near the hotel, 
and you will be particularly fortunate if you are present 
at one of their o-reat annual meetino's or councils. 

* Prof. Goode, in the report of the U. S. Commissioners, published in 1884, 
says: "All of the family \ Salmoiiidce \ run into very shoal water, and usually to the 
sources of streams, to deposit their eggs, and all of them seek food and cool tem- 
peratures in the largest and deepest bodies of water accessible. I am inclined to 
the view that the natural habitat of the salmon is in the fresh waters, the more 
so since there are so many instances — such as that of the Stortmontfield Ponds in 
England — where it has been confined for years in lakes without apparent detriment. 
The ' land-locked ' salmon, or ' fresh- water ' salmon, known also in the Saguenay re- 
gion as ' winninish,' in the Shubenacadie and other rivers of western Nova Scotia as 
the 'grayling,' and in different parts of jNIaine as 'Schoodic trout,' ' Sebago trout,' 
or 'dwarf salmon,' probably never visit salt Avater, finding ample food and exercise 
in the lakes and large rivers. In some regions in Maine and New Brunswick their 
access to salt water is cut off by dams, and some investigators have claimed that 
land-locked salmon did not exist until these obstructions were built, some fifty years 
ago. This hypothesis, however, is not necessary, for in the Saguenay the winninish 
have easy, unobstructed access to the sea. * "•■' "' The habits of successive gen- 
erations become hereditary traits, and the difference in their life histories seems to 
justify the claim of the land-locked salmon to be regarded as a variety of Sahno 
salar, though it is hardly to be distinguished except by its lesser size and some slight 
peculiarities in coloration. It is to be designated at Sal/no salar, variety sebago. 
Although both originated in the same primitive stock, it is not probable that one 
changes to the other, except after many generations, under the influence of forced 
changes in their environment." 



43^ IVith Fly-Rod and Camera, 

"There is in this region an immense variety of scen- 
ery, and within a day's ride from Roberval in all direc- 
tions you will find marvels of the grand and picturesque. 

"On some of the rivers which empty into Lake St. 
John are magnificent views. The Metabetchouan Falls, on 
the river of the same name, are particularly fine. The 
Ouiatchouan Falls, on the river of that name, are also 
grand, and for height are among the foremost, these be- 
ing of one hundred feet greater altitude than Niagara 
Falls." 

" I declare, Doctor," said Frere, when I had done, 
" I believe I will try the land-locks next season, and I 
am undecided which to visit, those at Lake St. John or 
the Schoodics." 

"Try both," I said, "and give me your opinion as 
to their identity; but," I continued, as I lighted a match 
and looked at my watch, "we had better go to sleep; 
it's past eleven o'clock, and we have had talk enough to 
make us sleep soundly." 

"Sleep it is," said Frere, and pulling up our blankets 
around our shoulders, we were soon accompanying the 
guides in their nasal serenade. 




Q S 
w 

c 

00 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Morning of Our Last Day on the River. ■ A Rise in the River. 
Long Casts. • Excellence of the Split -Bamboo Rod. • About Fly- 
Castin'g Tournaments. • Excri'EMENi- i\ Running Rapids. • A Rise. 
An Exciting Struggll. • A Stubborn Salmon. • Landed in a Novel 
Manner. • Great Sport. • Charms Attending the Angler's Life. 
Beautiful Thoughts on Angling v.y Lifferent Authors. • Retrospec- 
tive Angling. • At the Third Pool Again. A Narrow Escape from 
an Accident. • A Souvenir. ■ Fkkke Rlsks a CIood Fish. • A Grand 
Battle. • Triumph. • Give tiik Glides a Chance. • Hiram Rises a 
Salmon and Lands it after a Short Struiuilk. • Notional People are 
Guides. • William has his Inninc; Also. • Valedictory. 



T^7E AWOKE at an early hour on the following 
^ ^ morning, and found that the rain had ceased, 
and the clouds which were drifting away to the east- 
ward, were lifting rapidly and breaking into fragments 
of purple and gold. 

"It's to be a fair day, sir," said William, who was 
busily engaged in splitting up an old pine log for fire 
wood; '"'we'll have a good time running to the mouth 
of the river." 



440 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

"Yes," added Frere, who had now joined us, "It 
rained very hard all night, and the river must have swol- 
len a good deal." 

"The river rose a foot and a half last nieht," ex- 
claimed Hiram, who had been washing potatoes in the 
stream and cleaning trout for our breakfast, "and the 
water is very dark and rily. We'll have a good day's 
sport going down, sure." 

"That's good," I replied, as I toasted myself before 
the fire, which was now blazing merrily; "our last day 
on the stream ought to be a good one." 

"It will, it will, no trouble," said William, "we "will 
pack as soon as we can after breakfast." 

"We'll start it now," I exclaimed, "while we're wait- 
ing for breakfast," and Frere and I began at once to get 
our belongings together for packing. 

Our blankets and extra clothes we hung on poles 
out on the beach, where the breeze, which was blowing 
down the stream, together with the warmth of the sun 
whose rays now began to glisten through the trees, could 
reach them, and all our other traps we stored away in 
their other receptacles. 

As fast as we packed we carried our things down to 
the beach near the canoe, and in a short time the tent 
was entirely emptied. 



442 M'^ith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"We had better leave the tent standing until the last 
moment before we start," said Frere, "it Avill dr)- off a 
good deal, and will thus be lighter in the canoe." 

A half hour quickly passed away, when breakfast was 
announced, and after a hasty toilet we gathered around 
the table and ate our last breakfast on the river for that 
outing. 

A royal good meal it was, and we partook of it with 
robust appetites, and when we had done, the remnants 
that we left would have, as Hiram expressed it, "hardly 
made a meal for a boy." 

As soon as we had finished, Frere and I prepared our 
tackle for the day's work, while the guides washed the 
dishes and cooking utensils and packed everything snugly 
in the canoe. While they were thus engaged Frere be- 
gan casting below the rapids, but not a rise did he get, 
for the water poured down over the rocks and shale a 
raging, foaming torrent. 

"By Jove," said he, "I hope we haven't got too 
much of a good thing, there's a tremendous current, and 
the water is very dark." 

"Never fear," I answered, "we'll slide down stream 
all the better, and though there may be too much water 
for the fishing to be good in the very deep pools, we'll 
have all the sport we want in the others." 



444 IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"I hope so,' he answered, putting out a Hne that 
reached almost across the pool; "and, if we get no fish, 
we'll have the air and exercise, anyhow," he added, with 
a laugh. 

"Yes," I replied, "and you seem to be having a 
share of the exercise now ; how under the sun do you 
get out such a length of line?" I continued, taking my 
rod and preparing to cast, " I don't believe I could reach 
half your distance," and I took a position near him and 
tried, but without success to reach the distance at which 
his fly was dropping. 

"It would be a wonder if you did," he replied, "for 
your tackle is not right for it. In the first place, my 
heavy greenheart is longer than your split -bamboo, and 
is a much better rod every . way for a long cast ; while 
being supple, it is astonishingly even all through, and it 
sweeps a line tremendously. In the next place, my line 
is considerably heavier than yours, and that counts. For 
distance my tackle would beat yours every time, I am 
very sure, but for delicacy I like your bamboo and light 
outfit." 

"Yes, I like the bamboo," said I, "and, taking it day 
in and day out, it is a jewel. I don't think it would 
kill a heavy fish in so short a time as your big green- 
heart, but it is a darling, all the same." 




Mktabetchouan Falls, P. Q. 



446 PVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

"Yes," he replied, "I like it, and when I get a new 
rod, shall change for one like yours." 

"I'm glad to hear it," 1 answered, "most of my friends 
o-Q equipped with split -bamboos, and they seem to give 
general satisfaction. I visited a tiy- casting tournament in 
New York recently,* and all the competitors used one." 

"Ah, a tournament!" he exclaimed, "we have them 
in England, but I have never seen one on this side of 
the water. I suppose the competitors did something hand- 
some." 

"Well," I replied, "to tell you the truth I cannot say 
they made remarkable scores, but they had to contend 
against a strong quartering breeze, which marred their 
work. Again, they cast for distance principally, while we 
on the river try more for delicacy than for anything else. 
The two-handed casting was made by all the competitors 
with the same rod, a heavy split-bamboo salmon rod, and 
that was against them. Imagine me going into such a 
contest with a rod with which I was not acquainted, your 
greenheart, for instance." 

"In one sense it was fair," said Frere. 

"Yes," I answered, "it put all the contestants on a 
level, that is, if neither one of them was familiar with the 
action of that particular rod ; however, the casting Vv^as, 

"" At Central Park, May 23 and 24, iSSg. 



448 



IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 



all things considered, very creditable, although it did not 
beat the record of previous years." '•' 

"All ready, gentlemen," exclaimed William, as he and 
Hiram- stowed away the roUed-up tent on the boxes and 
bags in the canoe. "I think we had better run right 



' The score was as follows : 

First Dav. 

Casting with Single- Handed Fly -Rod (Amateurs). 

Length Weight Distance 

Contestants. of Rod. of Rod. Cast. Accuracy. Total. 

Ft. In. Oz. Ft. 

P. C. Hewitt lo 05 834' 73 27 100 

R. B. Lawrence .11 00 10 54 . . 54 

W. E. Blackford 11 01 10^/3 71 10 81 

James L. Breeze 10 10 loj^f 74 20 94 

Gonzalo Poey 11 00 8 '4 71 ig 90 

Second Day. 

Length of Rod. Weight of Rod. Dist. Cast. 

Contestants. ^^_ /^_ q^^ p^ 

R. T. Mayhew 11 08 11^ 68 

P. C. Hewitt Ti 00 10^ . g6 

Archibald Mitchell 10 11 g^^f 76 

W. E. Blackford 11 00 10^ 85 

Gonzalo Poey 11 00 8^ 70 

R. C. Leonard 10 11 9^ 97/^ 

R. B. Lawrence 11 00 10 89 

* James L. Breeze 10 11 10^ go 

*T. B. Mills. II 00 10^ go 

Ed. Eggert 11 06 lo^ 79 

* On the cast-oft" Breeze scored 96 ft. and Mills 100 ft. 

Casting with Single-Handed Fly- Ron (Experts and Amateurs). 

Length of Rod. Weight of Rod. Dist. Cast. 

Contestants. pf j„ q^ p^ 

P. C. Hewitt II 03 10^ 83 

R. C. Leonard ii 05 10^ 82^ 

Ed. Eggert 11 06 10^ 66 

Archibald Mitchell 11 00 10^4^ 67 

Gonzalo Poey 11 00 8 J4^ 64^ 

T. B. Mills II 00 10)^ l^Vz 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 



449 



down, and not fish the next two pools ; they will be too 
full, and begin with the Red Ledge Pool." 



Contestants. 



Light Rod Contest. 

Second Day. 

Length of Rod. Weight of Rod. Dist. Cast. 
Ft. In. 



Oz. 


Ft. 


5 


85 


5 


86 


5 


86 


5 


90 


5 


85K 



R. B. Lawrence . . 10 00 

*T. B. Mills ID 00 

* J. L. Breeze 10 00 

R. C. Leonard 9 08 

P. C. Hewitt ID 00 

* On the cast-oft" Mills scored S2?4' ft. and Bree2e 80 ft. 

Casting with Salmon Rod. 

First Day. 

Length of Rod. Weight of Rod. Dist. Cast. 
Contestants. p^_ j^ q^ p^ 

R. C. Leonard iS 00 37 112)^ 

T. B. Mills iS 00 37 94 

A. Mitchell 18 00 37 97 

P. C. Hewitt 18 00 37 105 

J. L. Breeze 18 00 37 loi 

Ed. Eggert 15 09 32 86 

Mr. G. Poey, Secretar)- of the National Rod and Reel Association, has kindh 
furnished me the following- abstract of scores in previous years. He sa\s: 

" Li former years we have had casters who have passed 70 ft., as follows: 



Martin Culhane 18S2 

H. C. Thorne 1883 

W. E. Hendrix 1883 

C. A. Ranch 1883 

Geo. J. Varne)- 1883 

C. A. Ranch 1884 

Samuel Polhemus. . . . 1S84 

A. D. Leonard 1884 

M. E. Hawes 1884 



76 feet. Thos. J. Conroy 1S84 .. 71 feet 

So " W. H. Goodwin 1885 .. 76 

78 " C. G. Levison 1887 .. 83 

70 " T. B. Stewart 1887 .. 75} 

Si " G. Johnston 18S7 .. 76 

So " C. A. Bryan 1887 .. 70 

77>4 " A. F. Dresel 1SS7 .. 74 

77>4" P. J. Silvernail 18S7 .. So 

So " James Rice 1887 .. 75 



Mr> Poey adds: "From the above you will see that the Association counts 

some pretty fair casters among its inembers. A man who can cast Soft., when at 

actual fishing will have perfect control of his line at 60 ft. ; and if at any time he 

wants to e.\tend for a rise at 70 ft. he can do it, while the average angler who con- 
siders 50 ft. all needful cannot get there." 



450 JVith Ply-Rod and Camera. 

Lighting- my newly-filled pipe, I took my seat in the 
birch, and Frere followed me ; the guides shoved off, and 
in a few moments we were in the roar and boil of the 
first rapids. What is there more gloriously exciting than 
a run down a series- of tumultuous rapids? 

The canoe, guided by the powerful arms of a stal- 
wart man in the bow and another in the stern, enters the 
mass of seething foam, and in an instant darts down the 
steep incline ; sharp rocks and massive boulders, thrusting 
their heads above the water, or lurking hidden beneath it, 
threaten the frail craft on every side. 

In such a raeine current, to strike one of these is 
almost certain destruction to the canoe, and to its occu- 
pant almost certain death ; for good fortune alone could 
save even the stoutest swimmer if thrown into such a re- 
sistless stream. 

With skilled canoemen to manage the craft — and none 
others should for a moment be relied on — there is, how- 
ever, but little danger. The steel-pointed setting pole is 
handled deftly, now warding the canoe off from a threat- 
ening rock on one side, and in an instant, perhaps, from 
one on the other, and the canoe passes with almost the 
rapidity of thought through the roar, amid all the dan- 
gers seen and unseen, into the smoother water below. 

Hiram and William were masters in the art of canoe 



452 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

handling, and we safel)' passed the two series of rapids 
in a ver)' few minutes. 

"Ah, Doctor," exclaimed Frere, as he stepped out of 
the canoe upon the beach opposite Red Ledge, "that Avas 
a grand run through those rapids. I always enjoy such 
a spin, even if it is as rough as we had it to-day." 

"Yes." I replied, "it is something worth living for to 
take such a rush as that ; but, Hiram," I said, turning 
to the guide, " I thought we should smash on that big 
yellow rock in the middle of the current, I saw it before 
we reached it and clenched my teeth, awaiting the shock." 

"No trouble," he replied, as he handed me my rod, 
"there was ofood six inches of water over it, though it 
showed plain enough on account of its color; the river 
is raised very high." 

"Yes," added William, "the rain must have been very 
heavy up country, for the water is still rising," and he 
pointed to the beach, which was slowly being submerged. 

Frere waded out to a point near the head of a pool 
and began casting. 

I took my position at the lower end of the beach, 
and covered all the water within my reach ; my fly was 
a large-sized silver doctor, and a bright one at that ; for 
an ordinary fly would have been of little value in such 
deep, dark water. 




Q 
Pi 

<: 

Q 

w 



454 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

Frere was using a large bright fly also, and his posi- 
tion enabled him to place it over all the best spots in 
the pool. But he failed to obtain a single response to 
his persistent efforts. 

Hiram, who had orone down to the lower end of the 
pool, after examining the water a few seconds, beckoned 
to me, and I immediately joined him. 

"Be very easy," he said, "but I think if you can 
get 3^our fly over in the eddy beyant that big rock near 
the other shore, we'll get a rise ; there's salmon there, 
sure, and I don't believe there are any at the head, the 
water is too strong there." 

I waded in as far as I could, and getting out a long 
line, soon by good fortune dropped my fly exactly in the 
spot Hiram had indicated, and in an instant was fast to 
a large fish. 

"Good, by all the powers!" exclaimed the guide, as 
the salmon darted to the upper end of the pool, taking 
out fifty yards of line with electric speed, "you've got 
something to attend to now, sure," and lighting his in- 
evitable pipe he went to the canoe for the gaff. 

Frere took in his line at once, and returned to the 
canoe, and standing his rod against a stump near by, 
watched for the coming fight. 

It began without delay. The salmon, making a mag- 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 455 

nificent leap, throwing himself at least four feet in the 
air, started as soon as he struck the water on a series 
of turns and runs to every corner of the pool ; he was 
silvery -bright and evidently just up from the sea. My 
big reel sang a merry tune as the fish darted from one 
side to the other, and I had a busy time recovering the 
line as rapidly as I could amid the fierce rushes of the 
salmon. 

The pace the fish had gone soon told upon him, the 
strong current and the strain of my rod brought him to 
a sober mood, and he settled in the deepest water at the 
base of the upper rapids, and indicated a desire to rest. 
It was not my purpose, however, to allow him an oppor- 
tunity to recover his "wind;" we had before us a long 
run down to the mouth of the river, and quite a number 
of good pools to fish, and time must not be wasted. I 
reeled in my line, therefore, as rapidly as possible, and 
soon had the rod bearing upon the fish. The Avater was 
uncomfortably cold, and I left my position for a dryer 
one on the beach. 

The salmon, when the rod began to lift, became un- 
easy, and he soon showed himself above the surface, giv- 
ing several fierce leaps, and then darting about in all 
directions. Fortunately the pool was clear of drift stuff, 
and the fight, barring accidents to tackle, promised me 



45^ IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

success. After another series of wild runs and plunges 
at the upper part ot the pool, he at length changed his 
quarters and clung more to the lower end. 

I now began to feel anxious ; for in the event of 
his running out of the pool into the rapids below, no 
tackle could save him, for there was a clear run of a 
half mile of wild water below us, and our heavily-laden 
canoe could not follow him safely and successfully to the 
next lower pool. 

Three times did he approach the verge as if to dart 
down the stream, and as man)^ times did he return to 
the deeper water again ; evidently he had no relish for 
testing the tumbling, roaring mass of water in the rapids, 
attached as he was to a clog that could not be shaken off. 

At length he moved into the edd)- on the opposite 
side of the stream where he had first risen, and sinking 
to the bottom, he became as immovable as a rock. No 
effort of mine could stir him; nothincr I could do, no 
possible strain that I could put on the rod that the cast- 
ing line would bear could put him in motion again ; and 
for a full quarter of an hour I was obliged to wait upon 
his royal pleasure. Hiram finally threw several stones into 
the water above him, and even the disturbance they made 
did not move him. 

I now became nervous, for one can never tell what 



IVith Fly- Rod and Cawiera, 457 

mischief a salmon is studying, and finally told the guides 
they had better go over in the canoe and stir him up 
with the setting pole, this being always my last resource 
when all other means fail to move a sulking fish. 

In a few seconds the canoe was floating over the 
eddy, and, standing in the bow, William thrust his pole 
down its full length into the water. With a wild rush 
the salmon left his lurking place and darted out to the 
middle of the pool, where he gave three leaps in as many 
seconds ; then rushing- to the head he gave another leap 
and sank to the bottom again. 

There, however, he did not long remain, for the cur- 
rent was too strong for him, and down the pool he came 
again, leaping and darting about as if but just hooked. 

Frere, who was standing beside me, exclaimed, " Upon 
my word, you have the gamiest fish in the river!" 

"You are right," I replied, as I handled the reel with 
the utmost speed, "he is game all through; it's lucky he's 
well hooked." 

"It is," replied my friend, "but you cannot be too 
careful ; it is nearly half an hour since we struck him, 
and nine chances out of ten the hook will drop out if 
he gets a soft slack in the line." 

"I know it," I answered, "and I begin to wish the 
gaff were in him." 



45^ WitPi Fly-Rod and Camera. 

The salmon now turned for the rapids at the foot 
of the pool, as if he were determined to run down the 
stream, but the canoe was fortunately lying- just in the 
right position to head him off, and the guides seeing" him 
coming, pounded and splashed the water with their poles 
to turn him back. The tumult they created had the de- 
sired effect, and back he went to the head again. 

Once more I reeled in my line and put the strain 
upon the rod. The fish responded at once, and darting 
down the pool again, ended the fight in a way that was 
to me most novel, and to the fish most summary ; for, 
as he passed down the pool, leaping four times in suc- 
cession, he fell in his fourth leap plump into the canoe! 

As quick as a flash William dropped his setting pole 
and seized upon the fish, which had fortunately slid be- 
neath one of the cross bars, and at that instant the hook 
dropped from its hold ! 

" Doctor, it's against all rules of the river to land a 
fish in such a manner," exclaimed Frere, laughingly, as 
the canoe slid upon the beach. 

"Ah, ha, Mr. Frere," said Hiram, "I know it's against 
the rules, but did you ever see the like of that before?" 

"No," replied my friend, "all m)- experience with sal- 
mon has shown that they are not at all anxious to get 
into the canoe." 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 459 

"Sure, he jumped in none too soon," said William, 
who had killed the fish and laid it into the canoe, "he 
parted company with the hook as soon as he got aboard." 

It was a handsome fish of full sixteen pounds' weight, 
and was as bright as burnished silver. 

"Well, gentlemen," said Hiram, after the salmon had 
been weighed and then placed in the bow of the canoe 
under some green leaves and brakes, "what shall it be, 
try here for another, or move down to the next pool?" 

"What do you say, Frere?" I asked, filling my pipe 
for a fly smudge. 

"Perhaps we had better move down," he replied, "we 
have a number of good pools ahead, and the commotion 
we have kicked up here will spoil this for an hour, at 
least." 

"All right," I answered, stepping into the canoe. 
"Hiram, we will fish all the good water down to the 
third pool, where we will take dinner and cast for a 
couple of hours, and then run down to the mouth so as 
to get to the hotel before dark." 

Frere, followed by the guides, joined me in the birch, 
and soon we were again in the rapids, rushing down the 
steep incline with almost the speed of the salmon. Be- 
fore us for a good half mile the river, in nearly a straight 
direction, presented the appearance of a hillside covered 



460 IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

more or less with ice and snow, and it would have taken 
but a slight stretch of the imagination to fancy we were 
tobogganing. Rocks and trees on the shore seemed to 
approach and then pass us with the speed of thought, 
and in a very brief time we descried the ledge and bend 
in the river, which marked the position of the next pool. 
Just before reaching it Frere pointed to a cove above the 
pool, into which the canoe was guided, and we stepped 
out upon the rocks and prepared for casting. 

The water was very high, and it covered points which 
were, when we ascended the river, high and dry ; but the 
pool was very wide, and consequently there were many 
shoal places, and, casting across these to their further 
edges, we soon found there were a good many fish lying 
in the yellow water ; for Frere at his third cast hooked 
a small eight-pound salmon, and I, at almost the same 
moment, struck a grilse. After a short fight both our 
fish were saved, and in a very brief time five more grilse 
fell to our rods, three of them being taken by Frere. In 
addition to these we took a large number of fresh-run sea 
trout, the handsomest we had seen, and for an hour at 
least had the liveliest sport we had found on the river. 
At length the fish ceased rising, and packing our catch in 
the canoe we re-embarked, and sped on our way down to 
the third pool, fishing all the intervening good water with 



462 JVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

varying success, and sliding down the rapids with the zest 
and enjoyment of school boys out on a coasting frolic. 

Fishing would to me lose its principal attractions, its 
sweetest aroma — if such an expression may be used — if 
it were divested of the accompaniments of such experi- 
ences and surroundings as I find on the streams and lakes 
of the wilderness, 

I cannot conceive of enjoyment being found by the 
fly-fisherman away from the forest, the glorious mountains, 
the roar of falls and rapids, the freedom of camp life, 
and the various other concomitants of the angler's out- 
ings. I agree with my good friend A. N. Cheney that 
there would be nothing attractive in it, "if it were all 
of fishing to fish ; if fish were only to be obtained in 
pools in a desert waste that never reflected leaf or twig ; 
from walled-in reservoirs, where fish are fattened like a 
bullock for the shambles ; from sluggish, muddy streams 
within the hearing of great towns, redolent of odors that 
are bred and disseminated where humanity is massed be- 
tween walls of brick and mortar, or even from a perfect 
fish preserve, where everything is artificial except the 
water." 

No, under such conditions the eentle art would have 
no followers save the butchers and market fishermen, and 
all the charm, all the poetry of angling would be effaced. 



PVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 463 

How beautifully Dr. Henshall says:* "The charms 
of fly-fishing have been sung in song and story from 
time immemorial by the poetically gifted devotees of the 
gentle art, who have embalmed the memory of its aes- 
thetic features in the living^ oreen of graceful ferns, in 
the sweet-scented flowers of dell and dingle, and in the 
liquid music of purling streams. The fly-fisher is a lover 
of Nature pure and simple, and has a true and just ap- 
preciation of her poetic side, though he may lack the 
artist's skill to limn her beauties, or the poet's genius to 
describe them. To him who in the love of Nature holds 
communion with her visible form, she speaks a various 
language." 

And what delightful converse she holds with the fly- 
fisher, as with rod and reel he follows the banks of the 
meandering stream, or wades its pellucid waters, casting 
ever and anon the gossamer leader and feathery lure into 
the shadowy nooks, below sunny rapids, over foam-flecked 
eddies and on silent pools. She speaks to him through 
the rustling leaves, murmurs to him from the flowing 
stream, and sighs to him in the summer breeze. She 
is vocal in a myriad of voices, and manifest in innumer- 
able ways. The fly-fisher, with quickened senses, has an 
ear for every sound, an eye for every object, and is 

* In "Fishing with the Fly." 



464 PVith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

alive to every motion. He hears the hum of the bee, 
the chirp of the cricket, the twitter of the sparrow, the 
dip of the swallow ; he sees the gay butteriiy in its un- 
certain flight, the shadow of the drifting cloud, the mossy 
rock, the modest violet, the open-eyed daisy ; he is con- 
scious of the passing breeze, of the mellow sunlight, of 
the odors of the flowers, of the fragrance of the fields : 
nothing escapes his keen notice as he casts his flies hither 
and yon, in the eager expectation of a rise. " Yes, to the 
true angler before all others — ■ 

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. 
There is a rapture by the lonely shore." 

Listen to this poetic gem from our genial friend 
Cheney. He says:* 

"To an angler the pleasures of the rod and reel 
are far-reaching, and have no boundary save when the 
mind ceases to anticipate and the brain to remember. 
I have had the grandest sport on a midwinter's night 
with the snow piled high outside and the north wind 
roaring down the chimney while I sat with my feet to 
the blaze on the hearth, holding in my hand an old fly- 
book. 

" The smoke from my lighted pipe, aided by imag- 
ination, contained rod, fish, creel, odorous balsam, droop- 

* In "Fishing- witli the Fly." 



PFith Fly-Rod and Cmnera, 465 

Ing hemlock and purling brook or ruffled lake. I seemed 
to hear the twittering birds, leaves rustled by the wind, 
and the music of running water, while the incense of 
wild flowers saluted my nostrils. The heat of the fire 
was but the warm rays of the sun, and the crackle of 
the burning wood the noise of the forest. Thus streams 
that I have fished once or twice have been fished a score 
of times. 

"I had nothing to show for the later fishing, but I 
could feel that God was good and my memory unim- 
paired. The fish in the pipe smoke has been as active 
as was the fish in the water, and afforded as fine play. 
My reel clicked as merrily, and my rod bent to the play 
of the fish in the half -dream as they did in the long 
ago." 

Yes, there is no recreation that ministers to the po- 
etic in our nature as does the art of ano-lino- with the 
fiy-rod, and there is nothing that, to me, gives such pure, 
innocent and healthful enjoyment. 

It is over thirty years since I killed m)' first large 
fish on the fly. During the period that has elapsed since 
then, angling has been my chief recreation, yet I have 
never regretted one moment of the time I have devoted 
to it. 

Is there any other pastime that could have given me 



466 IVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

such unalloyed satisfaction ? Assuredly not ; and I repeat, 
there is absolutel)' nothing that can afford such complete 
and perfect pleasure as can the tiy-rod. Not necessarily 
from the large number of fish that are taken. Your true 
sportsman never kills more than can be used to good ad- 
vantage for human food. 

Dr. Henshall well says of this trait: "The true fly- 
fisher, who practices his art con amore, does not delight 
in big catches, nor revel in undue and cruel slaughter. 
He is ever satisfied with a moderate creel, and is con- 
tent with the scientific and skillful capture of a few good 
fish. The beauties of nature, as revealed in his surround- 
ings — the sparkling water, the shadow and sunshine, the 
rustling leaves, the song of birds and hum of insects, the 
health-giving breeze — make up to him a measure of true 
enjoyment and peace and thankfulness, that is totally un- 
known to the slaughterer of the innocents, whose sole am- 
bition is to fill his creel and record his captures by the 
score." 

Forgive my digression, it is almost an unpardonable 
one ; but the memory of the forest and stream opened 
the flood gates so widely that I could not repress the 
stream. 

On reaching the third pool, we landed on the point 
of beach above the rapids at the head of the pool, and, 




a 



468 H^ith Fly- Rod and Camera. 

while the guides busied themselves in preparing dinner, 
Frere and I began casting. The water was very high, 
and the beach was reduced to a narrow strip, but some 
of the best castinsj stands were uncovered, and our flies 
reached all the choice water of the pool. Our success 
was small, however, .a single grilse and a few sea trout 
only rewarding our efforts. Undoubtedly there were many 
fish in the basin, but we could not persuade them to come 
to our lures, and the announcement "dinner is ready" 
from Hiram met from us with a quick and glad response. 

The guides had lavished special effort upon it, and, 
although it was marred somewhat by the recollection that 
a year, at least, must elapse before we could enjoy an- 
other such repast, we did full justice to the viands be- 
fore us. 

After the dinner came our customary smoke, and then 
the rod was resumed ; but alas, our success was measured 
by only a few small trout, which we returned to the water 
without delay, and after a fruitless hour had been spent, 
we entered the canoe for our final spin down the river. 
The water was so deep now that sunken rocks had no 
terrors for us, and we passed down the rough places with 
a dash which under other circumstances would have been 
reckless. On one occasion, however, we came very near 
having a serious accident. 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 469 

The canoe had been for a distance of twenty rods 
or more close to the shore, in order that the deepest water 
might be availed of, and a number of jagged, uncomforta- 
ble-looking rocks and boulders which lay in the middle 
of the river might be avoided. As we swept rapidly un- 
der a dead cedar, which hung over the stream, my line, 
which had got loose in some inexplicable way, cauo-ht in 
the limbs of the tree, and at that instant the fiy, leap- 
ing backward, fastened itself in the collar of Hiram's flan- 
nel shirt, within a half inch of his throat ; fortunately the 
hook did not touch his skin, but the line went out at a 
fearful speed, the reel shrieking discordantly. 

Of course the canoe could not be stopped in such a 
current, and I expected to see the rod smashed to pieces. 
I was powerless, but Hiram, standing firmly in the stern 
of the canoe, cool and collected as if nothing had hap- 
pened, holding the darting birch in her course in the 
swift and treacherous water, seized the casting line with 
his teeth, and bit it through as easily as if it had been 
a cotton thread. The line thus released soon came back 
to me, and I put it on the reel again without any loss 
of time. 

"That was a close call, Hiram," said I; "if you had 
lost your balance we should have been smashed on the 
rocks." 



4 JO With Fly- Rod and Camera, 

"No trouble," he replied, laughing, "William could 
have kept her right. I'll give you your fly when we 
reach the pool below." 

"No," I answered, "keep it as a souvenir of our last 
day on the river.' 

"And a remembrance, also," added Frere, "of a close 
shave to a bad accident." 

"All right!" said Hiram, as he guided the canoe to 
the rocks at the head of the first pool, "I'll keep it choice 
till next season." 

"And now for a salmon!" exclaimed William, as Frere 
put out his line and began casting, "this is the last 
chance." 

"Yes, it's your last chance, Frere," said I, taking a 
seat upon a rock and watching him, "I will be 'a looker- 
on in Vienna.'" 

Frere handled his rod with consummate skill, and sent 
his fly away down the pool to the quiet water until it was 
almost lost to sight ; but no response was received, and 
it was not until he changed for a larger and brighter fly 
that a rise came. At the second cast a salmon accepted 
the lure, and Frere's reel soon gave such music as the 
angler loves to hear. 

"Ah, ha!" exclaimed William, as he seized the gaff, 
"I thought the big yellow fly would stir him," 



IVith Fly- Rod and Camera. ^yi 

"Yes," said Hiram, "in such heavy and dark water 
the biggest and the brightest iiies are the best." 

Frere stood upon a flat rock at the head of the pool, 
its crown not two inches above the rushinp- water. His 

o 

position was a perfect one, for he could control the line 
all over the pool, and the fish must always be below him 
and headed toward him, and it could not pass above him. 
It was an ideal stand from which to fight a salmon. 

The fish sank to the bottom in the middle of the pool, 
and remained quiet for a short time, but soon feelino- the 
restraint of the hook (and I have come to the belief that 
the fish resent the restraint they feel, but do not suffer 
from the prick of the hook) it gave two or three short 
runs, and then settled quietly to the bottom again. 

Frere, when he had recovered all the line that he 
could get in, raised the rod and endeavored to lift the 
fish into action, but for a time it refused to budge. At 
length, however, the strain from the powerful greenheart 
proved too much for its patience, and with a couple of 
wild leaps high in the air, it darted down the pool as 
if about to return to the ocean. 

"Cree-e-e!" how the big reel sang as the line spun 
out with the speed of electricity. 

When the lower part of the pool was reached, how- 
ever, the salmon gave another wild leap, flashing in the 



472 JVith Fly-Rod and Camera. 

air like a patch of silver, and then returned to its first 
position. 

Frere recovered his line ag-ain and then gave the 
strain of the rod to the fish. The salmon repeated its 
previous performance, and yet once more, then it changed 
its tactics and began jiggering — that most hateful of all 
performances. Even the lift of Frere's long rod proved 
ineffectual for a while in restrainino^ this movement, and 
it was only after we pelted the water above it with huge 
stones that it moved again. A heav}^ rock falling with 
a crash above it at length turned the salmon, and then 
began one of the most exciting struggles that I had ever 
witnessed. 

The fish seemed to be in a half dozen places at 
once, and in the air almost as much as in the water. 
Darting to the foot of the pool it gave a wild leap, and 
then returning to the head, dashed the water in our faces 
as it leaped close to us as we stood upon the rocks. 
Now it was burrowing in the shale and sand at the bar 
in the outlet of the pool, and seemingly in an instant 
was working a devious passage among the rocks on the 
further side. 

Frere was cool and undemonstrative, handling his 
long and heavy rod and manipulating his reel with all 
the skill of which he was a master. For nearly a half 



With Fly- Rod and Camera. 473 

an hour did the struggle continue before the fish showed 
any signs of exhaustion, and then it "broke up all at 
once," as William afterward said, and in less than a min- 
ute after it had shown the first symptoms of weariness, 
the craff was in it and the salmon was killed. It is 
rarely that so large a salmon will "force .the pace" as 
this had done, and it was a vigorous fish indeed to 
carry such a struggle so long in such heavy water. 

"What is the weight?" I asked, as Frere fastened 
the scales to the fish. 

"Twenty-two pounds," he replied. 

"Good," I exclaimed; "for so large a fish it was 
the most lively specimen I ever saw; it seemed almost 
tireless, and it was all over the pool like a huge grilse." 

"Won't you have a cast for one?" asked Hiram, as 
he handed me my rod. "Try for the last one." 

"No, Hiram," I replied, selecting a fly and attach- 
ing it to my leader, "I have had my full share of fish- 
ing this trip, thanks largely to your efforts, but I want 
you to have another chance, and now you can take it." 

"Thank you, sir," replied the guide, "I will rest the 
pool a bit and then see what I can do." 

"Yes, and here is my rod, William," said Frere, "you 
have worked hard also, and I want you to have one more 
chance before we say good-by." 



474 JVith Fly- Rod a7td Camera. 

"Thanks," answered the guide, "it's not always that 
we see two gentlemen who are willing to give their guides 
a little sport on their last day, hey, Hiram?" 

"Right you are," replied his brother, "we'll have a 
few casts anyway; who'll fish first, you or I?" 

"You take your first chance," said William, "then I 
will try my luck." 

"All right," responded the other, and as a prelimi- 
nary move he lighted his pipe, after which he soon pre- 
pared to cast. 

Beautifully he laid out a long line all over the pool. 
Not a splash indicated the fall of the fly, but it dropped 
like a feather, here and there, wherever the guide sent 
it. At length a swirl' was seen, and Hiram, turning his 
wrist, was in an instant fast to a fish. The salmon 
dashed down the pool, endeavoring to escape from the 
incumbrance that was fastened to him. 

"Bravo," I exclaimed, "kill him if you can and take 
him home for to-morrow's dinner." 

"Thanks, sir," replied the guide, "I'll do my best." 

It is not my purpose to describe the struggle that 
ensued, for a further repetition of such details will make 
a wearisome ending to my story. Suffice it to say that 
the fight was fought, and the fish, a twelve -pound fe- 
male, was finally landed. 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. ^^c 

" Now, William, it's your turn ; show your mettle," ex- 
claimed Frere. 

''All right, sir," said the guide, "we'll rest the pool 
a while, and then I'll try a few casts from the other 
side, we have made too much disturbance here." 

In a short time William stepped into the canoe with 
Hiram, and crossing the river above the rapids climbed 
along the edge of the ledge for a few rods, and then 
descending to the river, stood upon a rock that jutted 
out into the pool. It gave him barely a resting place 
for his feet, and the trees and bushes behind him inter- 
fered sadly with his back cast. But with care and pa- 
tience he was at length able to put his fiy in a little 
nook behind two rocks that rose above the water, which 
we, from our position, could not possibly have reached. 

Notional people are guides, both Indians and white 
men. Often have I seen them qto to a PTeat deal of 
trouble to get a line into a particular spot ; but the joke 
of it is, they usually "get there," and prove that they 
get there for a prize worth having. 

William had made no mistake, for at his third cast 
a salmon took his lure, and right merrily the reel sang 
out the guide's triumph. His position was a bad one, 
the point of rock upon which he was standing offering 
hardly a square foot of surface, and I shouted to Hiram 



47^ With Fly- Rod and Cmnera. 

to go down with the canoe and take his brother off. This 
was done, and Wilham now had a fair chance for work. 

It was a large but active fish, fresh run, and he kept 
in motion with almost untiring energy. The canoe was 
brought over to the ledge upon which we were standing, 
and the guides at once stepped ashore. 

"Here, sir, take the rod," said William, offering it to 
Frere, "and kill the salmon." 

"Certainly not," replied my friend, "it's your fish, and 
save him if you can." 

"All right, sir," said the guide, "I'll save him." 

The fish was larger than Hiram's, but the struggle 
was a short one, and in a few minutes the gaff was used 
and the salmon was killed. 

"And now for the hotel!" I exclaimed, stepping into 
the canoe. "Our outing is ended; we'll put by our rods 
for another season, and don the habiliments of civilized 
life." 

"Yes," said Frere, "we have had a royal good time, 
have worked hard, yet have rested ourselves, and we are 
stronger and better able to take up our labors again than 
we have been for many a month." 



With Fly-Rod and Camera. 477 

Reader, my story is told. I have endeavored to de- 
scribe to you the charms of an angler's life. I have suc- 
ceeded poorly, I am certain, but I have shown how and 
where you may enjoy them. 

To appreciate them in the highest degree you must 
go to them. 

Do so ; take fly-rod and camera, camp outfit and ca- 
noe, and seek the beautiful, the graceful, the gamy deni- 
zens of the rivers and lakes ; follow them in their wildest 
haunts, and my word for it, you will never, never re- 
gret it. 
















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